Eternal Winter
by Pika-Zukin
Summary: Rough draft for a larger story's subplot. [complete]
1. Destiny Waits! The Ambitious IceType Tra...

_I came to this land to protect you.  
I was born to meet you.  
The moment I wake,  
prisms start to spin around me.  
I'm here now to love you.  
I was born to hold you.  
Lies and truths...  
All lies within me.  
I won't let the days I abandon my heart get to me.  
Tenderness and love  
let's take them back once again!  
--Megumi Hayashibara, "Successful Mission" (Saber Marionette J)  
opening song for Eternal Winter_

**Destiny Waits! The Ambitious Ice-Type Trainer!**

In the distant sky there was lightning. Rain would come within the hour, cooling the balmy summer air for a little while, a breath of relief for the evening. Was there some benevolent force at work?

Noelle gazed out the window. The only good part of summer was the storms -- the rush of rain, the announcement of thunder, the show of lightning. It was beautiful when the stagnancy of summer was disrupted by a lively storm, the oppressive heat defeated. Noelle took in a deep breath. She was interpreting her surroundings in much more of a poetic sense than they needed to be.

She was glad when her TV program returned from commercial. Coverage of the annual Indigo League championships -- the biggest in the country -- took place at the beginning of every summer. Noelle turned the volume up, watching enviously. Most of the contestants were her age or even younger, and all of them had spent long months doing nothing but training pokémon. What a life! Could there be anything better than being a pokémon trainer?

"Miss Noelle?" one of the maids, June, stood before the girl's open bedroom door. "Afternoon tea is ready."

Noelle blinked at June, then glanced at the clock on her wall. "Okay," she said softly. "I'll be down in a second." June nodded, smiled kindly, and departed. Noelle stared at the television screen one last longing time before shutting it off, smoothing the material of her plain t-shirt and shorts, and descending the long flight of stairs.

Winter Manor was just one of the opulent mansions in Pine City, a town at the base of the Kanto mountains. There was little to do with pokémon here, no centers or marts. The specialty grocery was known to sell trading cards that were popular with small children, and some of the newsstands carried _Pokémon Friend_ magazine, but that was about it. Noelle, having grown up and lived in Pine City all of her fifteen years, never knew there was more to pokémon than the fact that they were wild animals until she flipped through a magazine and watched documentaries on television. When she turned ten, she begged her parents to let her go to the closest center and obtain a trainer's license, but they refused. It was Noelle's duty, as the sole Winter heir, to complete her private education and prepare for marriage, as the family name and fortune needed to flourish.

But on the side, Noelle collected information about pokémon. Boxes in the back of her closet held many years' worth of _Pokémon Friend_ issues, some books, and newspaper articles. She'd read and reread them, and knew almost as much about pokémon as a novice student of the famed Pokémon Technical Institute, located outside Vermilion City. Thinking about pokémon kept her mind clear and optimistic while her parents consistently reminded her that etiquette was everything, money was her key to power, her future husband would be happier if she'd change from those ridiculous shorts into a nice light dress.

Contessa Winter's cobalt-blue hair was drawn into a round bun, and she sipped her tea with the same vapid expression she always bore. Noelle felt her own locks of the same shade, unbound and cascading over her shoulders in a neat wave. They wanted her to turn into her mother, a society wife for a business-minded man. Noelle's father was engrossed in the day's newspaper, and if he noticed his daughter's appearance at the table, he gave no sign. Noelle snared a scone, as light and soft as her heart wasn't.

"Do remember to go to bed early tonight," Contessa spoke suddenly. "The carriage will be here come sunrise."

"Carriage?" Noelle repeated.

"For Palm Springs."

Noelle held the scone inches away from her mouth, which was open in her confusion. "You never told me we were going to Palm Springs tomorrow."

"Of course we did. You should listen to your father, dear."

"That's right." Clayton Winter lowered the newspaper and raised his black eyebrows expectantly at Noelle. "Besides, the announcement's already in the paper." He pulled out a loose page and handed it to her. The top of it read "Engagements," and among the names, she saw her own. She was mentioned in two sentences, which followed an entire paragraph about one Daniel Sparks III, the eighteen-year-old son of one of Clayton's business associates.

"What... what is this?" Noelle asked shakily.

"It's your publicized engagement. And tomorrow's the formal party."

"It'll be so lovely, an early summer soirée," Contessa sighed.

"But..." Noelle's head spun. "But I'm only fifteen! I can't get married! Especially when I barely know him!" _And can't stand him,_ she added to herself, having met young Daniel before at required social gatherings. If ever there was proof of inbreeding among the upper class, he was it. He was slow-witted, ill-mannered behind his elders' backs, and, worst of all, he boasted his favorite hobby, hunting pokémon.

"Well, we've got to find _something_ for you to do," Clayton said. "Your education's finished, after all."

"Is that all I'm good for?" Noelle spat. "To teach me a few history and music lessons, then marry me off and expect me to make children?"

"Don't raise your voice, dear," Contessa corrected her. "It's unbecoming."

"I'm still a child myself!" Noelle paid her no attention. She had always tolerated her parents, and always carried out their ridiculous yet traditional expectations with one thought to maintain her spirit: _Someday I will have my pokémon._ But if she was to be married off right away... all her suspicions that her parents had no care for her as a person were coming true. She wasn't meant to do what she wanted, just what _they_ wanted.

"Now, I wouldn't say that." Her father picked the newspaper back up. "You should be grateful. Oridinary fifteen-year-olds _complain_ that they are treated like children. Now's the time for you to act your age."

Noelle felt short of breath. "I guess I'll start packing for the trip, then," she said softly, and pushed back her chair to stand up. It was, of course, futile to argue further, as it would only earn her a lecture on how such matters weren't her place.

She opened her bedroom closet, eyes falling on the half-buried boxes of pokémon reading material, her grandest fantasies and dreams, all packed away and pushed into a corner. In her daydreams, her parents would let her be her own person, and she'd rush to get a trainer's license and a starter pokémon, just like she'd read about. She would choose a water-type. In fact, she'd build a team of water-types, because in relation to water were ice-type pokémon, living embodiments of the perfect beauty found only in ice and snow.

_Everything I need in my life is being taken away from me,_ Noelle thought darkly. _Pokémon friends, beautiful ice, happiness... freedom... why can't I throw everything away and be a pokémon trainer?_

She reached for a random dress on a clothes hanger. As her fingers brushed the pink silk, she was struck with one thought. _Well, what's to stop me?_

There were maps of every pokémon-related city in her magazines. She had more than enough basic know-how on raising, caring for, and battling. Pokémon centers had overnight rooms and complementary meals for licensed trainers. She had a bicycle in the garage. What, indeed, was to stop her?

Noelle's heart pounded while her mind generated images of herself biking from city to city, free from social obligation. She could be just like those kids on TV.

She released the dress and rooted through the depths of her closet for a backpack. Outside, the sky flashed with lightning, and thunder pealed.

~ * ~

The storm reached Vermilion City -- located on the opposite end of Kanto as Pine City -- by daybreak. Midori, who slept rarely during the night, was desperately in need of bodily rest by this point. However, his mind was wide awake and well at work, and his ears in tune to the thunder. He sat on the topmost stair of a building that may have passed for a pokémon gym, if it wasn't shadowed by the questionably official Vermilion Gym of Lieutenant Surge. The roof overhead was barely enough to shelter him from the rain.

He saw the lightning blaze through his closed eyelids. _It is fitting that I am here at this place, in this city, on the first dawn of summer, your birthday,_ he mused. Thunder inevitably followed, low and solemn. _Is this your gift to her, thunder god?_ Midori silently continued. _Are you watching over her, if not with her?_

He sighed heavily and fingered the pokéball around his neck. He forced his personal thoughts aside and concentrated on matters of more importance.

By the time another thunderclap sounded, he had a distinct mental image. After so long... he'd almost given up. His mission was one step closer to its goal.

_Perhaps you are aiding me after all, wherever you are,_ he thought. _Did you loan your gift to me through this lovely storm?_

His cerebral search drained what was left of his energy. Midori Rougan stood and stretched, stumbling even through that small effort. He was gratefully looking forward to a long morning's sleep.

~ * ~

Daybreak in Pine City found Noelle biking into town, fearfully glancing over her shoulder every few seconds. By now they must have noticed she wasn't in her room, and were most likely launching into fits of composed anger. She wished she could have left a note with June and the other maids, telling them not to worry -- she liked them, how sympathetic they were -- but a note could be found by her father, which would lead to the whole town searching for her. She had to get out of the city fast.

_Well, I wanted an adventure,_ she said to herself. Route 3 due east went straight into Pewter City, the closest place with a pokémon center. Ignoring her growling stomach, Noelle pedaled hastily.

She was exhausted when she reached Pewter, but never more relieved of anything. She wiped her sweaty brows with the back of her hand and chained her bicycle to the provided rack outside the center. Then, looking up at the building's sign with a determined smile, she went in.

"Good morning," the pink-looped-pigtailed young woman at the desk greeted her. "How may I help you?"

"Can I sign up for a trainer's license here?" Noelle asked.

"You certainly can!" She beamed cheerfully and turned to her computer, inputting Noelle's personal information as it was told to her. "Now, you'll have to step this way for your photo." She motioned to a door behind the desk.

"Oh..." Noelle fingered the ends of her limp hair. "Um... I'm sorry, but must it be now? I kind of left in a hurry... and I didn't get to take a shower." Her voice became quieter. What would people think, a lady of her stature appearing in public unwashed?

"I understand. Since you're one step away from being a licensed trainer anyway, I'll go ahead and give you access to a room and the showers, okay?" She smiled sweetly again.

_That's right,_ Noelle reminded herself. _She has no idea who I am... anyone so involved in pokémon has no knowledge of the business world._ She stopped her thoughts for the moment and thanked the attendant profusely.

"After your shower, you can help yourself to the cafeteria, too. If you need anything, just ask for me. My name is Joy," she said, handing over a key. Noelle clutched it to her heart as she walked down the hall to her appointed room. _The Winter name has no significance in the pokémon world,_ she kept telling herself. _Already I am free from expectation here._

After her shower, she tied her hair back into two pigtails at the base of her neck, which she thought was a cute style after seeing it on the older Nurse Joy. Hers was too thick to make loops, though, so she left them to hang down her back. She all but devoured a large breakfast, then returned to the front desk.

"You seem much better now," Joy said as she lead Noelle to the back office, which contained sufficient lighting and a white screen before a camera. She took Noelle's photo, sent it to her computer, and returned to the office to retrieve the finished product. She handed Noelle a little plastic card. "There you are. Your registration gains you the use of any pokémon center around the country. I just need the fee now."

Fortunately, Noelle had brought some money with her, but the price of first-time registration combined with the annual fee took nearly all her funds. _Good thing I can get room and board is free at centers now,_ she thought. _I hope I don't really need anything else._

"Okay, you're all set." Nurse Joy grinned. "I trust you have pokéballs? You can get them at the pokémon mart down the street."

"Um... I don't have any, no," Noelle admitted. "I don't think I have enough money left to buy even one."

"Oh..." Nurse Joy's smiled faded. "Don't you have a starter? Young trainers are usually given a pokémon to start out with, along with some pokéballs. You can't catch wild pokémon too easily without weakening it through a battle first."

Noelle's cheeks flushed pink. She should have realized that; she'd read all the tips on starting a trainer's journey multiple times. In her rush to leave Pine City, she'd forgotten everything. "Well... where do I go to get a starter?" she asked.

"A lot of kids seek out Professor Oak in Pallet Town. He's known to distribute starter pokémon. But Pallet's a long way south from here."

Noelle nodded. She'd also read much about Samuel Oak, one of the world's top pokémon experts. "But I don't know if it's a good idea for a trainer to travel all the way to Pallet Town from here without any pokémon at all," she said.

Nurse Joy gave her a sympathetic smile as a little boy approached the desk with his hands full of pokéballs. "Can you heal these guys for me?" he asked. Noelle enviously watched him hand over the red and white spheres. "I'll think of something," she told Joy, and went to sit on one of the lobby's cushioned benches. With a deep sigh, she glanced at the magazine rack beside her, and reached for the latest _Pokémon Friend_, which she had not purchased yet. Inside was an article that instantly caught her eye: "Keeping Your Ice-Type Pokémon Cool This Summer," written by Professor Audrey Holly, whose pieces had begun to appear in magazines only recently. Noelle always liked reading her work. It was always about water- or ice-types. _It's a sign,_ she mused. _I begin my journey and there's an article about ice pokémon._

Maybe Professor Holly could give her some tips. Her email address was listed at the end of her article. Noelle thought about it as she stared at the public computer terminal on the other side of the lobby. It couldn't hurt. She'd need an email address of her own first, but it wouldn't be a problem to find a service and sign up.

Something caught her eye on the computer screen, however. It seemed to be an accessible directory of pokémon officials. With rapid curiosity, Noelle opened the program and typed Professor Holly's name in the field. There was a phone number, which certainly could go more quickly than an email, and an address, listed only as "Route 3, Kanto."

"She lives here!?" Noelle exclaimed to herself. She hadn't seen any houses on her bike ride to Pewter. But then, she wasn't paying that much attention to the scenery in her rush to get to the center. But if it was true... she could visit... and maybe she could get her very own pokémon!

_It's a sign._ She remembered her theory when she found the article minutes ago. She wrote down the phone number and headed to one of the video phones, lined up against another wall. _This is going to be great!_ she thought as she dialed. _I love how she writes. She really likes ice pokémon. Maybe we're kindred spirits._

The other line was picked up, and an image flickered into view on the screen. There was a dark face with bizarre round eyes, huge pink lips, and platinum-blond hair. "Jyyyyyynx?" she drawled.

"Waugh!" Noelle jumped in her chair.

"Jynx jynx?" The Jynx tilted her head expectantly.

"Um... hello there," said Noelle. "May I speak to Professor Holly? Or is this a bad time?"

"Jynx." Jynx smiled and stepped aside. Noelle glanced around the center, wondering if anyone was watching this strange scene. She was beginning to feel like an idiot.

"Hello?" a woman's voice brought her eyes back to the screen. That sight surprised Noelle anew. This woman was certainly too young to be called professor, and was startlingly beautiful besides. Her hair was full and chesnut brown, fanning out at her shoulders, and her eyes sharp green behind thin, oval-shaped glasses. Had she not been wearing a white lab coat, Noelle would have assumed she was a secretary or assistant.

She also felt increasingly silly. Who was she to call and disturb this important woman? "I'm sorry!" she blurted out. "But I found your phone number in the directory, and I have to ask you something, and I love your articles, and this is really random, and um..." She couldn't bear to face the screen again.

"Well, I must admit, I don't get phone calls from strangers bearing praise," Professor Holly said in a slightly amused tone. "You don't have to apologize. What's your name?"

Noelle bit her lower lip. It was all right? She wasn't going to chastise her for disrupting important research? "I'm Noelle. Maybe I should start over. See, I'm from Pine City, and I left this morning to start a pokémon journey. I'm at the Pewter center now, and I was wondering how I get a starter pokémon... I called you because you always write about water- and ice-types, which are my favorites, and you know so much about them, so I worship you."

Professor Holly blushed. "Thank you," she said. "I... I've never been worshipped before."

"I hope I don't sound weird or anything," Noelle continued. "Or too clueless. But everything I know about pokémon is from what I've read and seen on TV. I just left home today without telling anyone, and now that I'm out here on my own, I guess I don't know what to do."

"Hmm... you're in Pewter, you say? My house is just outside Pine City, en route to Pewter. I might be able to help you, though I don't really distribute starter pokémon. But if you're so interested in water- and ice-types, you can come see the ones in my lab."

"I can come to your house? Really? Oh, thank you!" Noelle's gushing made the professor more pink in the cheeks. "I'll be there as soon as I can! Thank you so much!"

Just as it had been when she left that morning, Noelle's bike ride was both exciting and dangerous. True, she was now pedaling to the house of the gracious Professor Holly, but she was also heading back in the direction of Pine City. What if her parents had people out looking for her? And just how close to the city did the professor live, anyway? Noelle recognized her surroundings eventually. The city was right around this bend...

Then she saw a mailbox on the side of the road at her right, next to which was a winding driveway. That led to a sizeable house atop a hill. Was that it? Noelle didn't want to go any farther by this point. Even if this wasn't Professor Holly's house, whoever lived there might be able to tell her where it was.

To her delight, a now-familiar Jynx answered the door. "Jynx!" she said in what seemed like a greeting tone. She even held out her dark little hand.

"Hi there, Jynx!" Noelle's fear washed away with that one gesture. "I guess I have the right place, huh?"

"Looks like." Professor Holly herself came to the door beside her pokémon. "Come on in, Noelle."

While the exterior was large, being a partial laboratory, the actual interior living area was fairly small. Noelle was brought into the living room, which kind of melded into the kitchen. A hallway was at the other end, most likely leading to the bedroom and to the facilities. "Thank you so much for inviting me," Noelle said gratefully. "I was really worried I'd go too far back into the city."

"You don't want to go home?" Professor Holly looked mildly surprised.

"I ran away. My parents shouldn't know where I am."

"Oh... oh my."

Noelle blushed. Suddenly she felt childish, admitting to someone she barely knew that she'd done something so rash. "Well, you seem determined to see it through," Professor Holly said before she could follow up on her reasoning. "That's an important trait in a pokémon trainer: willingness to follow your heart."

Audrey Holly hoped she didn't come off as too awkward. She was pulling this stuff out of nowhere, but it was making Noelle smile. She was nervous -- that unexpected phone call, inviting this strange girl to her home and laboratory... these were not normal actions for her. She'd been doing her solitary research away from Pokémon Tech for many months now, out here in the foothills where the air was crisp and the people sparse. She was quite grateful for her new living arrangement, just herself, Jynx, and the rest of her pokémon research subjects, no people to disrupt or judge or forsake her. So why? Why did this friendly girl have to call her, and why did she have to invite her over?

_God help my dying heart,_ she thought. _Her eyes... they're the same shade as--_

"Jyynx?" Jynx pulled on Noelle's hand. "Oh?" Noelle asked. "Does Jynx want something?"

Audrey took note of Jynx's eager expression, so similar to a human child's. "I think she wants you to meet the other pokémon," she said. "Which is a good idea, if you're going to be a water trainer."

"What got you so interested in them?" Noelle asked as they headed to the back of the house, the area annexed to serve as the lab.

"I suppose the same thing that any specialist will tell you about her chosen element," Audrey replied. "I've just always thought they're beautiful. There is nothing more profound than the cold stillness of ice, or the frozen perfection of snow."

"That's so sweet," Noelle said softly. "That's exactly what I've always thought. I never could explain _why_ I liked them so much, but I think you just did."

Audrey couldn't help but smile.

Part of the lab included an indoor pool, which held its very own miniature iceburg at one end. Noelle paused in the middle of the room and stared at it. Audrey folded her arms across her chest, also gazing at her most prized possession, the home for her current batch of water/ice pokémon. Her current report was on their social traits, comparing them to the behavior of pokémon that lived in more tropical waters.

"Wow," Noelle breathed. "I've never been so close to any... may I have a closer look?"

"Sure. Just be careful you don't fall in." Audrey was especially interested that Jynx followed Noelle to the edge of the pool. She hadn't left the girl's side since she arrived. Jynx knelt down to the water's edge and dipped her hand in, looking up at Noelle. Audrey raised her eyebrows. This might make another interesting thesis...

"Oh!" Noelle exclaimed. She'd mimicked Jynx, kneeling to touch the cool water, but she fell to her seat and was holding out her wet hand. Audrey rushed over to her. "Something licked me!" she said.

From the water just before them came a little white head sticking its tongue out playfully. One of the Seel had come to say hello. "How cute!" Noelle declared. "Hi there, little Seel!"

"Seel seel!" it greeted back, closing its eyes as Noelle patted its head. She laughed delightfully. Beside her, Jynx was beaming.

"Noelle," Professor Holly said, "would you like to take Seel with you? You know, as a starter?"

A sharp turn, and the familiar blue eyes were incredulously wide. "Take one of your pokémon? I... I couldn't... it wouldn't be right."

"I think it likes you. And you're the one who called me asking for help."

Noelle stood slowly, wiping her hand on the leg of her brown pants. "If I do, I'll take the best care of it, I promise!" She clasped her hands together and bowed her head.

"I know you will," Audrey said with a smile. Jynx made a finalized sound.

She gave Noelle six pokéballs, one of which now held the chosen Seel. "I'm sure you know how to use these," she said. "And take these as well. They're basic potions, but you can find stronger ones in larger cities."

"I don't know how to thank you," Noelle said, placing potions and empty balls in her backpack, but holding Seel's pokéball close.

"Don't worry about it. Just helping out the first fellow ice-type lover I've met in a long time."

"I'll find something," Noelle vowed. "I'll find a way to repay you for being so nice... and so cool. You're the best."

"Oh, now..." Audrey was flustered.

She waved as Noelle biked down her driveway and back onto route 3. How strange it had all been... but if she was going to speak to the human race again, Noelle was a good start.

Well, there was that boy from Vermilion City, too...

The reminder of him shocked Audrey out of her musing. Could it be? The way Noelle couldn't explain just why she loved the element, the way Jynx and Seel took to her in an instant, the fact that Audrey herself was actually at ease talking with her...

"Jynx?" Jynx asked from the professor's side.

Audrey glanced at her pokémon, and then back at the road. "Midori," she whispered. "If your theory is true... then I wish you all the fortune in the world." 


	2. A Little Snowflake! Noelle's Historic fi...

So was chapter 1 something, or what? Heh.  
Sure is a lot with which to compete here in the Pokémon section. >_>  
-Neekachu

**A Little Snowflake! Noelle's Historic First Battle!**

It was, naturally, more difficult to track down pokémon after the sun had set. The cloaked boy swore under his breath. He was so certain that small creature was a young pokémon, but he'd never find it in the dark. Fortune certainly wasn't on his side lately. He sighed with bitter resolve. He'd have to settle down for the night at the nearest center and resume his search tomorrow. And a mystery pokémon would have done wonders for his quest...

~ * ~

At the Pewter center's cafeteria, Noelle, happier than she'd ever been in her life, fed Seel pellets of poké-feed from her fingers as she ate her own dinner. Seel clapped its fins together every time it received a pellet, which made Noelle giggle in return. Other trainers feeding their own pokémon looked her way and smiled. Noelle's heart soared. They understood her. They were fellow pokémon lovers on journeys of their own, and any one of them could be a friend.

Seel was sleepy after eating, so Noelle retreated it to its pokéball for the night's rest. She, however, now had something to think about despite her own fatigue. She stepped outside, allowing the cool air to rejuvenate her.

In one day she'd tossed her very way of life aside and done something unbelievably rash -- sneaked away from her parents on a completely random decision. Now, this once-trapped dreamer had her own trainer's license, her own pokémon, and her first destination: the Cerulean gym. She'd flipped through her magazines again after leaving Professor Holly's lab and was reminded that said gym was famous for its aquariums. It would be the perfect place to learn about water- and ice-types, and it was the next closest city, coincidentially. Noelle would be off come morning, after a good night's sleep.

It was too perfect.

She was bound to be caught soon. Surely her parents, so eager they were for a grandson, would have sent their hired hands to search the area for her, right? She couldn't be safe for long. She was fast becoming nervous about roaming the countryside alone. Most young trainers, they got friends to go with them...

It occured to her at that moment -- she really didn't have friends.

She never seriously thought about it. She'd always been content to escape into her pokémon magazines. And there hadn't been any kids her age in the neighborhood. There were, however, children at those upscale gatherings she'd been dragged to, but they were never very interesting. Although... she could have sworn there was someone to whom she was close when she was very young. But the name and face were blank to her. Noelle shook her head. Conjuring memories of a possibly-imaginary friend wasn't going to alleviate her worries about travel.

Instead Noelle gazed at her darkened surroundings. She'd be safe in the center. _Safe if you don't stand out and attract attention, silly,_ she told herself. She was about to return inside when a faraway rustle caught her attention. _Just a wild pokémon. Go back inside._

It was the distressed squeak that stopped her. Before she realized what she was doing, she ran for the weeds and the sound's source. "Hello?" she asked cautiously.

A small form raced towards her, promptly hiding behind her legs. Before Noelle could identify it, something else emerged from the brush: a wild Raticate. It skidded before Noelle, met her eyes with its startled ones, and bounded back into the weeds. Noelle blinked. "Well. I showed it, huh?" she said to herself. She turned at the waist, glancing at the figure behind her. "You all right back there?"

It hadn't run away yet, just stood craning its little head up at her. "It's okay," Noelle said, bending down slowly. "Want to come with me to the center? It's nice and safe in there." To her surprise, it allowed her to pick it up and carry it. She couldn't see its features too well, not until she went inside. "Here we are," she told it as she took in its appearance. Truly a tiny creature, its body and head, each about the same size, were round and light purple, its arms, feet, and chest pale yellow. It boasted thick, straw-colored hair, saucer-shaped blue eyes, and pink lips, which were puckered out curiously.

"Awww, aren't you cute?" Noelle said as she carried it to the desk. "Nurse Joy?" she called.

"Yes?" Joy came out from the back office. "Oh my! What have you got there, Noelle?"

"This was being chased by a Raticate," Noelle explained, setting the little pokémon on the counter. It stared at her, blue eyes shining. "Can you make sure it's okay?"

"I certainly can. Oh, Chansey!" Joy called for her assistant. The pink, egg-shaped pokémon brought out a stretcher, on which Joy set the purple creature. "Looks like it needs something to eat and a good rest, along with a checkup. Check back in the morning, okay?"

Noelle nodded and watched Joy and Chansey leave the main area. She'd never seen any pictures of a little creature like that before. Surely it was a pokémon, but what kind? Or had she discovered something new?

Despite the day's accumulated excitement, Noelle slept deeply. She awoke late in the morning the next day, took a quick shower, and headed for the front desk to see Nurse Joy. "You're just in time," the pink-haired young woman told her. "I just checked on your little pokémon." She exited to the back quickly and returned with the small creature.

"Hi there!" Noelle greeted it. "I bet you feel a lot better, huh?"

It tilted its round head at her, then smiled and declared in a high, sweet voice, "churu!" Noelle and Joy giggled with delight.

"Excuse me," said someone behind Noelle. A boy her age approached the counter. "I believe you have my pokémon."

Noelle stared at him. He had a serious, determined look about him, from his hardened blue eyes to his confident slouch. Noelle was even more interested in the fact that he was wearing a cloak. He must have been quite an individual... in fact, the more she studied him, the more she realized that he was quite the _cute_ individual.

"I'm sorry," Joy told him gently, "but this pokémon isn't registered in your name. It's wild."

"But I've been tracking it," the boy said calmly. "I mean to have it."

"Well, you might have to take it up with this young lady. She found it exhausted and brought it in last night."

He faced Noelle, as if noticing her for the first time. She felt her insides jump around all funny, and she couldn't think of a thing that would be appropriate to say to him.

"I'll trade you anything you want for it," he said directly. "I've got plenty of repeat pokémon. But I've never seen that one, and it doesn't have a record in my pokédex. I must have it."

_Hi. I'm Noelle. You're gorgeous,_ she thought. A small sound from the little pokémon, still in Joy's arms, snapped her back to attention. "I don't know if that's very fair," she said. "You have lots of pokémon, and I just started my trainer's journey yesterday."

He blinked, not expecting such an answer.

"And I found it, and I think it likes me," Noelle went on. "I couldn't just give it away like that."

"I see. Then perhaps we should have a battle to determine which one of us is fit to take care of it."

Noelle gasped under her breath. What kind of trainer was this guy?

"You said yourself that you just started your journey yesterday," he said. "Such a novice can't have experience handling an obviously rare pokémon like that one. However, if you beat me in a battle, it'll prove that you have command over the pokémon you use, and are worthy."

"You can't treat pokémon like they're battle prizes!" Noelle protested. "If anything, this one should choose who it wants for its trainer!"

"Chuu?" it asked curiously. Nurse Joy's eyes were wide.

So were the boy's. "A good perception. Will you battle me, anyway? Just to see which one of us will win?"

"Uh?" Noelle still wasn't expecting to be challenged.

"Have you had a battle yet in your one day of being a trainer?"

"I... no..."

"Then it would be an honor to be your first." He closed his eyes, smiled, and bowed slightly at the waist. Noelle's heart thrashed. She never knew her first challenge would be like _this._

Nurse Joy followed them outside, to watch from the steps of the center. "What's your name?" the boy asked as they headed out to the center of the field.

"It's Noelle," she said. "Noelle Winter."

He smiled again. "I'm Gary Oak," he told her.

She replayed the name over and over in her mind until something caught her attention: the number of pokéballs on his belt. Surely he wouldn't use all those against her one Seel? "One-on-one," she blurted out.

"What's that?"

Noelle blushed. "Let's make it a one-on-one battle. Is that okay?"

Gary Oak nodded. "Perfectly fine," he agreed.

_What am I getting myself into?_ Noelle asked herself as Gary crossed the field ahead of her. _Did I agree to this just because he's cute?_ She saw Joy and the purple pokémon in front of the center. _No, it's for that little one. I know it wants to be with me. It was so exhausted because it was trying to get away from Gary, I know it!_

"All right, Noelle!" Gary called. "Let's see what you've got! Send out your pokémon!"

She gripped the red and white ball tightly. "Let's do it for our little friend," she whispered. "Go, Seel!" The red energy from the open pokéball formed into Seel, who seemed to understand already that this was a battle, as it faced Gary with a steely look in its brown eyes.

"A Seel, eh? Pretty good for your starting pokémon." Gary pulled a ball from his belt. "I think I know just what to use now."

_Please, not a stronger type,_ Noelle begged silently. _Please, nothing that Seel can't handle..._ Gary released his chosen pokémon. "Eevee!" he called.

"Awww, how cute!" Noelle blurted out in her relief that it wasn't a monstrously powerful pokémon. Gary looked a little taken aback at her exclamation. "Looks aren't everything!" he cautioned her. "Go on, Eevee, tackle attack!"

The fluffy thing charged at Seel, and Noelle was too caught up in how fast it was all happening to give a counterattack. She assumed Seel would know to jump out of the way, but it stood its ground, waiting for an order, and was tackled as a result. "Oh, Seel!" Noelle cried as it yelped in pain.

Gary placed a hand on his hip, waiting for her to act. Noelle berated herself for just standing there; she certainly was making herself look bad. Couldn't she have brought a magazine with her? What attacks did Seel know, anyway? She felt increasingly stupid. She was letting the little pokémon, Seel, and herself down, all because she wasn't using her head...

"Head butt!" she ordered, the attack name coming to her. Seel managed itself upright and flew at its opponent, the horn on its head drilling into Eevee's side. Noelle winced. This kind of battling wasn't as heroic as the matches on TV looked.

"Get up and use sand-attack!" Gary instructed. Eevee charged at Seel, skidded along the ground to kick dirt in its eyes, and bounded away.

"Try another head butt!" Noelle called, but Seel missed due to its temporary blindness. Noelle started panicking. This was so humiliating... why did she have to favor a water-type?

"Eevee, bite it!" Gary said, and Eevee sank its sharp little teeth into Seel's side. It was a much stronger bite than it appeared, for Seel collapsed and didn't get up. "Oh no!" Noelle cried, rushing to it. She lost, and now Gary would claim her little friend.

Gary recalled Eevee to its pokéball and joined Noelle. "You'll have to take it in the center to get it healed," he said.

"I know that!" she snapped. "I'm not as stupid as I look!" She sniffled as tears stung her eyes. How? After all the reading she'd done over the years, how could she have been so careless?

"There's a big difference between stupidity and inexperience, Noelle," Gary said, with something that may have been kindness in his voice. "You'll get better as you battle more."

Noelle stroked Seel's head, hoping it could feel her hand. "Is that why you challenged me? Because you knew you'd win?"

"Of course not. Do you think I have that little confidence in my own abilities?"

She looked up at him towering over her, the bottom of his cloak flapping in the breeze. "Then why?"

He seemed to be taking this into consideration. "I'm not entirely sure," he said at last, extending a hand and helping her up.

She held Seel's pokéball out, retracting it inside. "I want to battle you again," she said. "Someday, after I've had more training. Can I?"

"I'll look forward to it," Gary said. He headed for the pokémon center. Noelle stared after him for a second before she caught up. "You're not as bad as you think," he added. "The typical beginning trainer is only allowed to start off with a level five pokémon. Seel is much stronger than that, and it obeys you unconditionally. Where did you get it?"

"From a friend of mine," Noelle answered, bewildered. "Professor Holly."

Gary nodded. "It's also obvious that you need more pokémon on your team," he said. "I caught three after my first day travelling." They stopped in front of the stairs, where Nurse Joy was waiting.

"I... I know that," Noelle said.

"So you can keep the little one," Gary continued. "You were right. You cared enough to bring it inside last night, and I already have plenty of pokémon."

Noelle exchanged an incredulous look with Joy. "Seriously?" she asked. "You don't mind?"

"Hopefully I'll see another one. But that one likes you." He pointed. The pokémon squirmed in Joy's arms, reaching its paws out to Noelle. Joy handed it over. "Let's go inside and get your pokémon healed," she offered.

Seel's health was restored awhile later, in time for Noelle to take notice of her rumbling stomach. "Do you want to come have breakfast?" she asked Gary shyly.

"Thanks, but no. I have to get going," he said. "You enjoy breakfast with your new pokémon, though." He gave Noelle a smile as he turned for the door.

"I will! And I'll see you again for a rematch!" She waved and watched him leave, heaving a rather girlish sigh.

"That was nice of him to agree to let you keep that pokémon," Joy remarked.

"Yeah." Noelle was still watching the door. "I'm going to raise the best pokémon and show him how good I can be."

"I'm sure you will." Joy couldn't help giggling, which made Noelle blush.

She took Seel and her new pokémon outside after a big breakfast. "You aren't mad at me for making you battle on land for your first time, are you, Seel?" she asked. It looked at her blankly. Noelle chuckled. "Maybe further training will lead me to understand you, huh?"

The purple pokémon in her lap started making an odd, quiet sound. Noelle thought it sounded like humming. She looked at Seel, marvelling at the cuteness of a humming pokémon, when something drifted before her eyes. She changed her focus. They were snowflakes, sparse and tiny, but snowflakes.

"Snow? In June?" she asked. "What's going on?" Seel's eyes, too, followed the powdery flakes as they fell to the ground. "Powder snow?" Noelle questioned. "Is that what you're doing?" She stared with amazement at the pokémon in her lap. After a moment, it stopped humming, blinked at her, and went "churu!" with a happy smile.

Noelle was enchanted. "Then your name is Snowflake," she decided. "I have to call you something until I learn what you are."

"Churu chu!" Snowflake leapt at her chest for a pokémon-sized hug. Noelle squeezed it gently. _A powder snow move... maybe it's an ice-type! What a coincidence, then. I may just have my ice team yet._

~ * ~

There was a place -- if such was the most appropriate word -- that the untrained eye couldn't see. Beyond the tangible earth, approachable only with a clear, open mind and perfect trust... that's where the form of a young boy met his newest companion. She appeared as a little girl, younger than he, with thick blond hair and lavender skin.

"It doesn't snow in summer," the boy told her.

She smiled enigmatically. "No one else noticed but us. And Noelle loves snow. I saw it in her mind. You do too, you know."

It was no secret that, as a creature of ice, he preferred snow over sun. He sighed and looked around, though there was nothing physical to see. "I am not as strong as I thought," he said.

"You will be. Just like I'll be... I suppose."

"I want to be my best for her. She's... she deserves it."

"I think that's why we get trained. That's what the people in the breeding center always talked about."

He nodded, his pure white hair bobbing. "And here I thought I was content to live in an indoor pool for my life. Not until she showed up. I still can't believe it was me she chose."

The little girl smiled. She, too, was content. A great relief filled her, as if she'd been anticipating some event for a longer amount of time than she'd actually lived. 


	3. Aquarium of Elegance! Hey, What's With t...

I think I must point out that Snowflake's identity really isn't that big of a mystery. I started this story back when G/S was just being introduced, so it fits in with that whole "these new discoveries from Johto" plot. Some folks in a board were wondering about that. ^^  
This is one of my favorite chapters so far. o^.^o  
-Neekachu

**Aquarium of Elegance! Hey, What's With the Sketchbook?**

She could hear ringing, and it tugged at her mind, pulling her from the comfort of sleep. She opened her eyes, wincing at the daylight, becoming aware of the pain in her back, as she'd slept with her head in her arms on her desk. Audrey Holly rubbed her eyes and put her glasses on, wheeling her chair over to the video phone. She smoothed her hair, hid an empty wine bottle under the desk, and finally answered. A much more kempt Professor Oak was waiting on screen. "Good morning, Audrey," he said. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"Oh, no, Professor." Audrey's throat felt fuzzy, and there was a foul taste within. She must have fallen asleep before she could brush her teeth. "Can I help you with something?"

But Samuel Oak wasn't a practiced genius for nothing. He gave her a sympathetic smile. "I've just been thinking about you the past few days, and wondering how your latest research project was coming. And since I had a rare free moment now, I thought I'd call."

Audrey smiled back, grateful that her old teacher was still thinking of her. "It's going just fine, thanks. I'm minus a Seel, but that's not too dire."

"Oh? What happened to it?"

"I gave it to someone. A girl showed up at my door wanting to be an ice-type trainer... my Jynx and that Seel just attached themselves to her, so I couldn't let her leave without it."

Professor Oak nodded. "Then that was very nice of you. I'm sure she appreciates it."

Audrey paused, for the thought of that sweet girl carrying appreciation for her was something she'd never considered. Noelle would always remember her generosity... wouldn't she?

Professor Oak suddenly jerked his head from the screen and swore. He leapt from his chair, and Audrey found herself leaning close and peering at the corner of the screen, as if she could see into his lab where he had gone. She blinked, raised an eyebrow at herself, and returned to an upright position.

The professor returned and laughed with embarrassment. "Sorry about that, Audrey. My ramen boiled over, and I forgot that my assistant isn't here to take care of it."

"Where is he?"

"I sent him on an errand for me. With all the projects I'm catching up on from the past, I don't have time to look for these newly-discovered types that are popping up all over from the Johto region. It's a good thing for Tracey to start on his own, if he wants to be a researcher as well."

"That's kind of you." _It must be nice to have an assistant to keep you company AND do some of your work for you,_ she added to herself. She wasn't nearly as busy as Samuel Oak, but she couldn't deny that having a protégé, especially one that lived with her, would be a nice change of pace.

"I'm sure it is," Professor Oak said. "But I hope he returns soon with a new pokémon or two. I sure miss the way he cleaned up the lab." He laughed a little more uproariously than necessary.

~ * ~

It was definitely odd to be riding with her backpack strapped to her chest, Noelle decided, but it was the only way Snowflake could travel safely by bicycle. With just its head sticking out from the top of the back, Snowflake watched the passing trees with unwavering interest. Noelle was careful to pedal steadily and avoid holes in the road. She'd be in Cerulean City soon, and, after another night at the Pewter pokémon center, she was glad to be on the road, farther from Pine City and also closer to the mecca of water-types.

"Here we are!" she announced to Snowflake as she chained her bike to the rack outside the gym. She gathered her little pokémon in her arms and slid her backpack over her shoulders properly. "See the big Dewgong there?" She pointed to the gym's sign. "That's what Seel will be someday, huh?"

Groups of children swarmed around her as she entered the building. She watched as they followed some adults. "Are you here for the tour?" she heard someone ask, and found herself facing a pink-haired girl her own age.

"There's a tour?" Noelle repeated.

The girl nodded. "It's, like, for summer schools and day-camp groups. Everyone can see the aquariums, and even go swimming with their pokémon. Are you interested?"

"Oh, that would be great!" Noelle beamed. "I'm here to learn everything about water pokémon, and this is perfect!"

"Yay!" She clapped her hands together. "My name's Lily, and I'm one of the gym leaders here."

"You're a gym leader?" Noelle was surprised that this teenage girl was partially in command of the entire gym.

"Yep, along with my sisters. If you're interested in water-types, you've definitely come to the best place in the country." She winked, proud of her title. Then she glanced at her wristwatch. "Oh! I've got to, like, get to my tour group. Enjoy your stay! Thank you!" She waved and ran off.

"Churu?" Snowflake spoke up.

"This is better than I thought," Noelle said to her pokémon. "I can go swimming! I haven't done that in ages! Oh..." It occured to her that she didn't have a bathing suit. This disappointed her only until she saw a sign pointing the way to a gift shop. She headed in the direction, and, to her delight, saw a variety of suits to choose from. True, she didn't have a lot of money left, but water masters needed to spend great deals of time in the water, right?

Snowflake watched from a corner-mounted bench in the changing room as Noelle tried on different suits. With each one she imagined the reaction of a certain cute boy upon their rematch. _"I challenge you to a water battle, Gary! So let's get in the pool together, okay?"_ She admired her reflection and giggled. This fantasy surely influenced her final choice, a single-piece suit of black cut in very flattering angles. Noelle hadn't quite developed fully yet, but she felt her petite curves were given enough justice. She paid for it and left the gift shop with a huge smile on her face.

She found the aquarium and the many clusters of children led by teachers. She felt a little awkward being here on her own, but this place was open to the public, after all. She approached one of the glass walls, a side of a tank where pokémon were swimming. Snowflake's head followed a school of Goldeen, but it buried its face in Noelle's chest as a Tentacruel came up to the glass. Noelle stroked her pokémon's hair and moved on to another window across the room. "See, Snowflake?" she said softly. "There's some Shellder and a Cloyster napping."

"Chu?" Snowflake lifted its head to look. A movement above the sleeping pokémon caught Noelle's eye -- a Dewgong swam by in a relaxed manner. Noelle held in her breath as she watched its tail fan out, its body twist gracefully as it turned to its back, unrestrained from gravity in the water. It was swimming away, and Noelle stepped back to watch it in the adjacent glass wall from a distance.

She wasn't the only one. In front of the window was a boy holding a notebook, but his pencil strokes weren't writing. Was he drawing? Noelle tiptoed as close as she could without disturbing him, and saw, to her delight, that he'd sketched the Dewgong.

She fought a squeal, for he looked so deep in concentration. She'd definitely have to track him down later and compliment him on his choice of subject. She dared a peek at the boy himself -- tall and dressed in loose-fitting clothes, he had dark green hair of varying lengths, from in front of his eyes to just below his chin. He was biting his bottom lip as his eyes darted from pokémon to page. It was hard to tell from just a faraway profile, but Noelle was quite certain he was as cute as he was talented.

_Such visions today,_ she thought with a quiet sigh. After watching more of the swimming pokémon, she was ready to visit that pool. A quick change in the dressing room, and she was set. "Wow," she said to herself as she came to the pool itself. It was much larger than she'd pictured, and a good thing at that, with all the people swimming with pokémon. She padded on bare feet to a bench against the wall, on which she set her backpack and towel from the changing room. With her hands free now, she pulled Seel's pokéball from her bag and released Seel into the water. It took in its surroundings in a fraction of a second and clapped its forepaws together happily.

"Nice pool, huh?" Noelle said. "Bet you're glad to be here after yesterday's battle."

"Seel!" it declared, and dived under. Noelle saw it head for the deep end, as did Snowflake, who toddled to the edge of the pool and looked down at the clear water.

"Hey, hold on there." Noelle picked the tiny pokémon up. "Something tells me you're not much of a swimmer."

Snowflake blinked its huge blue eyes. "But how can I go in if you've got to stay here?" Noelle wondered. "Maybe you need a pokéball." She carried Snowflake to the bench behind her, setting her down as she rummaged through her backpack. "Where did those things go?" she muttered.

_"Chuuu!"_ She heard a cry in panic. Noelle whipped around. Snowflake had fallen in! Her stomach plummeted at a sickening speed as she realized how fast it had happened, how she'd only set her pokémon down for a second. She raced to the edge of the pool, nearly falling in herself. "Snowflake!" she shrieked.

To her complete surprise and gradually spreading relief, Snowflake was holding tight to a buoyant blue ball, safely above water. Noelle clutched her thumping heart, and she noticed after a few seconds that the ball was attached to something: an equally round, blue pokémon with a sweet and happy face. "Marill!" it squeaked, looking pleased with itself.

"Oh, Snowflake!" Noelle cried, kneeling down to pick it up. "I'm so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?" The wet little pokémon clung to its trainer, shivering. Noelle brushed her lips atop Snowflake's head, squeezing her eyes shut. She could feel the other swimmers watching her, wondering how such an irresponsible girl was even allowed in the famed Cerulean Gym...

"Marill!" came a male voice. The Marill called out in response. Noelle heard approaching footsteps, then the same voice just in front of her. "Are you two okay?"

She looked up shamefully and gasped out loud despite herself. It was the boy with the sketchbook. He sat on his knees inches away from her, and his eyes, which she noticed were clear and brown, were full of concern. "Uh.." she started to say. "Um, I'm fine. Snowflake's only shocked."

"I'm just glad Marill was nearby. What happened?"

"It was an accident... I don't how I was so stupid." Noelle wiped away a tear threatening to fall.

"Oh... no, accidents happen," he said gently. "And your pokémon is okay. Don't be upset."

Noelle met his eyes again and sniffled. "Thanks," she whispered.

He smiled, then looked at Snowflake. "What is it, anyway?" he asked, leaned in closer for a better look. Snowflake, realizing that it was out of the water and now the focus of attention, turned itself around. The boy stared with great interest. Noelle was a little more interested in the fact that, while his eyes were on Snowflake, his head was still scant inches away from her chest, barely concealed by her new bathing suit. "Um..." she spoke up.

Snowflake stuck its lips out and giggled. He realized his position and backed up, blushing furiously.

She hid a smile behind her hand. She may have been an accidentally irresponsible trainer, but she felt bad for his mistake. "I'm Noelle," she said, holding out her hand.

He blinked, then gave her a grateful smile. "I'm Tracey," he said, shaking her hand. "So, um, what _is_ your pokémon?"

"I have no idea. I found it outside the Pewter City center. I named it Snowflake."

"It's very cute. May I make some sketches of it later?"

_Later,_ Noelle thought as her heart skipped a beat. _Yes, we'll be hanging out even later..._ She forced herself to put an end to her wandering mind. "Of course you can! I saw you drawing the Dewgong. I have to see! It's my favorite pokémon!"

Tracey grinned. They both turned to the pool as they heard Marill calling out and splashing around, looking at Tracey expectantly. "Do you want to swim with Marill?" he asked Noelle.

"What, me? Don't you have a bathing suit?"

"I do, but..." He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't know. I, um, just ate, and you shouldn't swim after you do that, you know."

"Oh..." Noelle glanced at Marill. "Then you can watch Snowflake for me!" She handed her pokémon to him, pleased that she'd solved everyone's dilemmas. "I want to catch up to my Seel, and Marill can come with me." With Snowflake safely guarded, Noelle moved to the edge of the pool and stuck her feet in. "It's cold!" she exclaimed.

"Marill?" Marill looked up at her.

"Okay, here I go." She braced herself and slid in, clutching her arms. "I had no idea it was this cold!"

Tracey stood up, looking amused. "You'll get used to it," he said.

Marill swam around Noelle's waist in circles. "Okay, Marill." She bent her knees and submerged herself up to her shoulders, getting used to the water's temperature before taking in a breath and submerging her head. Then she was off to the deep end. She hadn't been swimming too much in the past, but whenever she did go, she took to the act naturally.

In the pool's clear water, she saw Seel approaching, happy that she'd joined it at last. They both rose up for a breath of air, Seel looking at Marill curiously. "This is Marill, who belongs to that guy over there," Noelle said to her pokémon, pointing to Tracey sitting at the pool's edge with Snowflake in his lap. Seel seemed interested for a moment, then dived back underwater, challenging Noelle to a race. "You're on! Marill, be our judge!" She laughed and pursued her Seel.

Seel won every race, and Noelle, soon out of energy, decided that it was time to rest. She returned to the shallow side of the pool and waded through the waist-deep water, approaching Snowflake and Tracey. "Did you see me swim?" she asked her pokémon, ruffling its now-dry hair. Snowflake threw its paws up with a delighted "churu!"

A glance at Tracey showed that he was averting his eyes while redness colored his cheeks. _Guess I'm more revealing when this thing is wet,_ Noelle thought of her well-fitting bathing suit. He must have been bored, just sitting there while everyone else was playing with their pokémon. She made one more swim to the deep end to find Seel and Marill, and had them follow her back. "We can't stay here all day," she said as they gave her pleading looks. "But I promise another swim soon." She climbed out of the pool and fetched its pokéball.

"The pokémon center here has its own pool," Tracey informed her. "Seel should be happy in that."

"See?" Noelle shared a smile with the white sea lion before returning it to the ball. "That's good to know about the center. Looks like I'll be staying there."

Tracey offered to hold onto Snowflake while Noelle changed back into her clothes. She emerged from the dressing room, pulling the hair ties from her wet pigtails. "I should've thought of this before jumping in the water," she said, wincing. She got them free and shook her loose hair. It would dry faster this way.

As they left the pool room, Tracey pulled a sketchbook from his backpack. "Here's the Dewgong," he said, flipping to the page. "It's just a rough sketch, but I really wanted to capture it swimming. It was so weightless underwater that it seemed surreal."

"Oh..." Noelle was enthralled at the drawing, at how ethereal Dewgong appeared. "That's so beautiful. Are you a professional artist?"

"Nowhere near professional level. I'm just a watcher. And I'm--"

"Oh, cool! I've read about those!" Noelle jumped in place eagerly. "You travel the world and observe pokémon in their true natural habitats! Wow, I bet you've been everywhere!"

Tracey chuckled. "Not quite everywhere. Just most of Kanto, and the whole of the Orange Archipelago. That's where I'm from, so naturally I've been all over the islands."

"That's still so many places! I'm jealous!" They wandered to the aquarium room again, idly passing by the glass walls. "I've only spent the last few years of my life holed up in my room reading about this kind of stuff," she went on. "But you're lucky. You get to _go_ places."

"You're in a place now," Tracey said, almost teasingly. "Unless your room is in the back of the gym, I'd say you got out."

"No..." Noelle giggled. "I ran away. I had to find out about the world for myself, not just through the media."

He glanced at one of the glass walls, where a lone Magikarp drifted by. "So did I," he said, more quietly than before. 


	4. Team Rocket! What Will They Steal Next?

And now, something for you TR fans. I had a lot of fun with this one.  
-Neekachu

**Team Rocket! What Will They Steal Next?**

Sleep could not come soon enough to Tracey Sketchit.

His bedside window was open, cool air blowing into the stuffy room at the Cerulean pokémon center. Being a Tangelo Island native, warm weather never bothered him; tonight, however, the summer temperature only added to the list of reasons why he lay wide awake.

Noelle. Even the thought of her name wracked his insides like a roller coaster. Besides the sight of her in a tiny black bathing suit, besides the fact that she agreed to bring her pokémon to Pallet Town, Tracey knew there was something, a yet-unexplainable something, about her that he'd never known in other girls he thought he'd liked.

He sighed, staring at the curtains, which waved in the incoming breeze. He was thinking too much too fast, and now... he had to put an end to this. He crossed the room to turn on the overhead light, then retrieved a sketchbook from his backpack and returned to bed, propping the book up on his raised knees.

There was light knocking on the door, and it opened slightly. "Tracey? Are you awake, too?" It was Noelle, and she'd come to his room. He felt faint.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, peering inside and noticing him sitting in bed. "I didn't mean to disturb you. I just saw your light on when I went to the bathroom."

"I'm not disturbed," Tracey replied automatically, not wanting her to leave. _Nice answer, stupid,_ he thought. "I, um, just wanted to touch up some drawings since I can't get to sleep."

Noelle nodded. "I'm too hot. I wish I had a fan in my room. Or something." She sat down on the end of his bed. "So what are you working on?"

He'd already made a few additional pencil strokes. "Just touching up the Dewgong from the gym." He showed her the page. "Since you seem to like it so much."

"Aww." Noelle's growing smile lit up her face. "Do you draw everything so beautifully?"

"I don't know about that. I just draw what I see, really. I don't think I have any special style." He flipped the Dewgong page over and started sketching anew.

"Oh, no, I think your style is really ethereal. At least, judging by that one Dewgong. You haven't shown me any other your other drawings."

"My other sketchbooks, the ones with all my notes, are at the lab. You'll see after those, I don't do anything distinctive."

"No way. I know better." Noelle pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them. "I wish I could draw. I can play the piano, and I suppose I can sing... but that's because of music and voice lessons. You're a natural."

"Everybody's good at something, I suppose."

"I wonder what I'm good at."

Tracey turned his sketchbook over to show her his sketch in progress. "You're a good subject," he said.

She gasped under my breath. "I don't look like that," she said. "That's so pretty. You're exaggerating."

"No, I'm not. I just draw what I see."

The shine in her ice-blue eyes and her flattered smile did more to Tracey's heart than any cliché fantasy could do. But he forced himself to return to his sketch, lest he be accused of staring awkwardly. "So," he said, "have you called home yet? Your parents must be wondering about you."

"Hmph." Noelle turned her nose up. "Biding their time is more like it."

"Hmm?"

"I thought they'd send all the help to search Kanto for me. Guess they need them there at the house, since they can't do anything for themselves."

"Help?" Tracey repeated. It occured to him that they'd spent the entire evening talking about how he'd met Professor Oak and the adventures he'd had with his two friends thoughout the Orange Islands, but he really didn't know much about Noelle's past.

"Yeah," she said. "Didn't I tell you? I grew up in a mansion. If you know anything about Pine City, then it'd be familiar. Winter Manor."

Tracey's eyes grew wide. The only thing he knew about Pine was that it was a rather exclusive town at the base of Mt. Moon, near the Johto border.

"Anyway, the more I think about it, the more it seems like they'd just wait around for me to come back," Noelle continued. "I'm sure they've figured out I ran away to be with pokémon. They've known I wanted to since I was ten, and they would never let me. They think I'm a little girl who can't take care of herself, and who needs constant looking after. That's why they arranged my marriage... part of why."

"Marriage?" Tracey wasn't being much of a conversationalist, and he cursed himself for it.

"Isn't that insane?" If Noelle noticed this, she didn't seem to mind. "I'm fifteen, for crying out loud. So I put my foot down there. If someone finds me out here, then I'll just run away faster, I suppose. I'm just glad I'm not travelling alone anymore." She looked at Tracey again, smiling gratefully. "So, um, now you know about that."

"I'm sorry to bring it up like that," he apologized. "I'll help you hide from them in any way I can."

"We should go to Pallet Town in disguise." She giggled. "So what about your parents? Since you asked, have you called them?"

He wasn't expecting the question to turn around to him. He fumbled and dropped his pencil. "Ah, no," he answered, bending over to pick it up from the floor. "I think my relationship with them is on about the same level as yours."

"Really? What happened?"

They were memories he usually kept healthily buried. Things breaking downstairs, yelling, hiding, crying, praying. "I just had to leave," he said quietly. "You know... because pokémon watching should take place in all kinds of environments, not just one island." He smiled feebly.

"I'm sorry," Noelle whispered. It seemed she saw through his answer. "So--"

"Are you--" Tracey said at the same time. They blinked at each other and laughed. "Go ahead," she prompted him.

"Are you thinking of taking the Indigo League challenge?" he asked, grateful for a subject change. "You'd have to really work, since it happens in August."

"The League? Oh, I don't know... I'm not really into competing." Noelle stretched her arms in front of her, yawning. "I just know I like pokémon, and I want to raise my own. I don't know if I should look into a specific field. Maybe I'll be a watcher." She grinned.

Tracey smiled back. "It's a good calling."

"Or a special researcher on ice-types, like Professor Holly. No matter what it is, my life has to be connected with ice pokémon somehow."

Tracey admired her devotion. He'd always been fascinated by people who just adhered to one elemental type of pokémon. He wouldn't wish his Marill or Venonat or Scyther away for a bond like that, but it always sounded interesting to have a type trademark.

"So I guess I won't be taking the challenge, no," Noelle went on. "No stops in every major city to earn gym badges. We'll get to Pallet quicker that way." She looked idly around the room. "I should probably get back to bed. I don't want Snowflake to wake up and wonder where I've gone."

Tracey nodded, running his fingers through his hair to push it away from his eyes. "What a pair we are, about ready to stay up talking the night away."

Noelle giggled behind one hand. "As much fun as it would be to stay up all night with you, we should probably get some sleep." She stood up and waved. "Night-night. I'll see you for breakfast."

"Sleep well," Tracey said, the only words he managed to say. Had she really said...?

He watched the door close behind her as the pencil fell from his hand again. If he'd been thinking fondly of her before, he was enthralled now. Independent, brave, smart, an eye for aesthetics and a heart for a beautiful element, lover of pokémon, painstakingly gorgeous, and only one year younger than himself -- Noelle was the dream girl Tracey had never imagined, for fear of letting himself down. She was real, and she was going to Pallet Town with him.

~ * ~

Noelle, refreshed after a morning shower and hearty breakfast, was in the middle of handing pellet after pellet of poké-feed to Snowflake when Tracey entered the center's cafeteria. Unlike her, however, his hair was dishelved and matted, as though he'd just gotten up. "Hi there, Tracey," she said, amused by his wrinkled clothes, in which he'd obviously slept. "Do you always get up so late?"

He looked a little flustered and glanced down at himself. "I guess I did forget to change. Um."

"Nice underwear." Noelle couldn't help giggling. His boxers were of the Marill-print variety.

Now Tracey blushed in full. "Okay, I forgot completely why I came here in the first place. I guess to make sure you hadn't left or anything." He held a hand up to his eyes, as if trying to hide from the rest of the trainers present.

"Oh, I don't think I could leave now that I know that my travelling companion has Marill underwear." She laughed as he hunched up his shoulders in embarrassment. "Aww, I mean that it's adorable! I want some, too! Or better yet, some Dewgong-print ones! Can you imagine that?"

"_That_ would be something to sketch," Tracey said boldly.

"Churu?" Snowflake questioned. Noelle shrieked and giggled again.

"All right, now that we've made complete spectacles of ourselves, I'm going to get changed," Tracey said. Noelle watched him leave and smirked with satisfaction. Her travels certainly wouldn't go without entertainment.

Some time later, a newly-dressed and wet-haired Tracey returned to the cafeteria where Noelle was waiting. He helped himself to what was now brunch on the buffet line, a plate of sandwiches and a couple of slices of cantaloupe. "I think we should stock up on some things from the pokémart here before we take off," he suggested.

Noelle nodded. "Um... do you have any money, though? I doubt I have enough for one pokéball."

Tracey smiled proudly and pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. From that he showed Noelle a credit card. "Professor Oak loaned it to me for essential expenses."

Noelle raised her eyebrows. "I'm an essential expense!" she teased.

He gave her a knowing look. "You can earn money in pokémon battles, you know."

"I can?"

"It's part of trainer's etiquette."

"But what if a trainer doesn't have any? I'm getting close to that point."

"Then you have to do some more training on your own to get better. You and your pokémon benefit that way."

"So why didn't..." Noelle trailed off, thinking of her battle with Gary. "I guess because Snowflake was the prize in that battle."

"The prize?" Tracey held out a morsel of sandwich to the little pokémon, who studied it with much interest.

"Yeah, this guy said he'd been trying to catch it, but I was the one who found it and brought it to the center. So he challenged me. Actually... hey, why didn't I think of that before?" She clapped her hands together. "He said his name was Gary Oak. Maybe he's related to the professor! Do you know him?"

Tracey blanched. "Gary... Oak?" he repeated slowly.

"Yeah! Wild brown hair, has a cape and a _ton_ of pokémon... he was really nice to me. He won the battle, but let me keep Snowflake after all, since it likes me so much." She sighed happily at the memory.

"Um... yeah. He's Professor Oak's grandson," Tracey said.

"So you know him? Wow, small world."

"Yes, it is." He picked at his last sandwich and said no more.

Noelle glanced away uneasily. Perhaps Tracey and Gary weren't on the best of terms? Now she was afraid she'd offended her new friend, and after they'd been getting along so well. She hurriedly changed the subject. "So, supplies, huh? Sounds good."

He exhaled a breath and nodded with a smile. "Yes. Let's get going."

They walked into town, commenting on the increasingly warm weather. The afternoon would be hot, and they were grateful they both had bicycles, allowing them to reach their next destination quickly and with a wind to keep them cool. Noelle was about to suggest they find a pool again when she heard someone call out to them. "Hello, young trainers! Would you like to buy some of our homemade pokéchow?" The voice belonged to a young woman wearing glasses and a pile of magenta hair on top her head.

"That's one of the things we're after! Lucky us!" Noelle exclaimed, approaching their sidewalk stand. The woman smiled happily, and her business partner, a guy with longish lavender-blue hair and even thicker glasses, held out a dish of pokémon food. "Care for a free sample?" he asked.

"Sure!" Noelle held Snowflake closer to the dish. "Does it look good?" she asked it.

"Oh, how sweet!" the woman exclaimed. "I've never seen a pokémon like that before! Is it rare?"

"Hold on, Noelle." Tracey gripped her shoulder. "This looks like a familiar scene."

The woman frowned at him. But the guy made one florid movement and was suddenly holding a red rose. "I can think of another familiar scene," he said. "A beautiful pokémon trainer with something missing from her life -- adventure... romance... or a filling meal for her pokémon."

Noelle's heart thumped wildly in her chest. Snowflake only said "churu?" curiously.

But Tracey seemed very annoyed. "You two are still at it?" he asked hotly.

The woman adjusted her glasses. "Why, it's the artist boy who used to travel with the twerps!" she declared. "You look much better without the headband now."

"You know them?" Noelle asked Tracey. "Chu-ru?" Snowflake echoed.

The woman jumped on top of the stand, laughing as if in triumph. "Prepare for trouble, we've been discovered!" she announced.

The guy leapt up beside her. "Make it double, our plot recovered!" he said.

Tracey slapped his forehead. "What's going on?" Noelle wondered.

"To protect the world from devestation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

They threw off their shopkeeper outfits and glasses, and the woman unbound her hair. Underneath, they were wearing almost-matching white uniforms, save that his were pants and hers a very short skirt. Their shirts each had a big red R on the front. "Jessie!" the woman announced herself.

"James," said the guy in a suave voice. He held up the rose.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth!" A Meowth suddenly jumped in between them on the cart. "That's right!" it said in a perfectly clear human voice.

Noelle applauded, and Snowflake cheered from its spot nestled in her elbow. "That was cool!" she exclaimed. "Are you a travelling show? You guys are funny!"

"Noelle..." Tracey said. "They're not--"

"As much as we do enjoy the spotlight," Jessie interrupted, posing with her ample chest sticking out, "we're only stars in our own minds."

"Huh?" Noelle asked, looking at Tracey. He rolled his eyes.

"Yes," James continued, "stars we are, and we shine best when we're stealing valuable pokémon!"

"Kinda like dat one!" Meowth pointed at Snowflake.

"He really does talk!" Noelle leaned in closer to examine Meowth. "How'd you teach him to do that?"

He laughed proudly. "I had ta teach myself, really. It's da greatest gift a pokémon could have!"

"Yeah, and now he never shuts up!" Jessie knocked him off the stand. "Listen here, girl, we represent the world-famous Team Rocket, and we're going to take that mystery pokémon to our boss."

Noelle squeezed Snowflake closer to her chest. "No, you can't!"

"Are you sure?" James asked in a low voice. He jumped down in front of her, narrowing his emerald green eyes and smiling in a suggestive way. "You could contribute greatly to a worthwhile cause."

Noelle tried to ignore her weakening legs and said, as casually as she could, "And what would that be?"

"Getting us out of debt with the boss!" James cried, switching from seductive to somewhat giddy, yet remaining strangely cute.

"Don't tell her that!" Jessie protested from her spot still on the cart.

James switched back. "Noelle, is it? You don't want us to be in trouble forever, do you?" He leaned in even closer to her.

"Ha! Now dat she's distracted..." Meowth sprang from the ground, propelled by his tail, and deftly grabbed Snowflake from Noelle's arms as he descended. He cackled and ran off, clamping a paw over its lips to stifle its cries.

"Hey!" Noelle shouted, giving chase. "Give back my Snowflake!" But Jessie caught up to her more quickly, throwing her arms around Noelle's legs and landing her on the ground.

"Scyther, go!" Tracey called. His elderly pokémon materialized before Noelle, a glare in its eyes and its bladed arms crossed. Jessie screamed and fled. "No! My hair! Not again!"

Noelle had no idea what that was about, but she clambored to her feet with a grateful glance to Scyther and continued chasing after Meowth. She wasn't the only one with that that idea. When her human legs caught her up faster than his Meowth legs could allow him to go, she saw that in his path was Tracey's puffed-up Marill.

"Just try an' stop me, squeaky!" Meowth challenged it. "What d'ya think yer gonna do, squirt me?"

"Marill!" it spat back indignantly, and followed through with a powerful spray of a water gun. The blast knocked Meowth off his feet and sent Snowflake flying from his arms to the ground. Noelle scooped it up instantly, holding it tight. "Are you all right?" she asked, panicked.

"Wha... what happened?" Meowth picked himself up, only to be tackled back down by Marill. Just like Jessie, he took off in the direction from which he'd come. Noelle smoothed Snowflake's straw-yellow hair and walked back to the scene with Marill at her feet.

Tracey was pocketing Scyther's pokéball when she returned. "I just saw Meowth pass by," he said. "Good job, Marill."

"Mari-mar!" the blue mouse piped up happily.

"Oh well, so much for this scheme," James sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess I'd better see how they're doing." But he stepped up to Noelle first. "I'm sure we'll meet again. After all, it _is_ a rare pokémon you carry." He handed her his rose, smiled once more, and walked away, a little too casually for someone bound to check on his fleeing partners.

"I... again..." Noelle repeated softly, now holding Snowflake with one arm and the flower to her nose with her free hand. For a moment, there was an appropriate breeze, and no words were spoken as she watched James depart.

"Thank you, Marill," Tracey said. His tone was quiet, and Noelle saw that he was bent at the knee next to his pokémon, patting between its ears.

"Oh, hey!" Noelle said suddenly. "At least now we get some free pokémon food!" She grabbed a handful of the pellets from the abandoned cart and fed one to Snowflake.

"Noelle, wait," Tracey cautioned. "Knowing Team Rocket..." He trailed off as Snowflake fell asleep. "...they'd make a special pokémix to put pokémon to sleep so they could steal them."

Noelle shook Snowflake gently. "I guess I'd better take it back to the center," she said.

"You can go ahead. I'll go find some non-drowsy formula pokéchow."

"Uh?" Noelle looked at Tracey again, now rising to his feet. His eyes were lowered, hair falling in front of them like a dark green curtain. "I'll see you later," he said, leaving with Marill trailing behind.

Noelle dutifully returned to the pokécenter and handed sleeping Snowflake over to Nurse Joy. What had gotten into Tracey? He was so talkative the night before, and so cute that morning... she'd mentioned Gary Oak, however. Obviously they'd met, but had it been bad? Surely that could be in the past... but now Team Rocket? He'd also known them from previous times, travelling through the islands. Were all of Tracey's old ties unfortunate ones?

"Your pokémon will be just fine," Joy assured Noelle when she came back to the desk. "I think an after-lunch nap is just the thing for it, besides."

"That's good," Noelle said, relieved there wasn't anything else in Team Rocket's pokéchow.

"What a pretty flower you have!" Joy exclaimed. "Where did you find it?"

"It was given to me," Noelle fingered the rose, which she'd stuck behind her ear after carefully removing the thorns from the stem.

"Aww, that's such a sweet gesture! Someone must really like you."

The dreamy smile was wiped from Noelle's lips in a heartbeat. _James._ Tracey hadn't even looked at her since James handed her that fateful rose. Was he... was he _jealous?_

Noelle stumbled outside as Nurse Joy tended to a pokécenter patient. _Oh, Tracey,_ she thought. _And you drew such a beautiful Dewgong for me._ Deciding that she was too nervous to stand still, she started walking, back into the downtown region where she and Tracey had intended to go shopping a mere half hour ago. Maybe she'd run into him, and he wouldn't be so sad, and they could continue their good-natured banter just like before.

She didn't see any pokémon-centered shops, but passed by an art supplies store. "Hey!" she said aloud, grinning to herself and rushing inside.

When she got back to the pokécenter, she found Tracey sitting on one of the couches in the lobby, obviously waiting for her. He looked up at her with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I found plenty of things for our trip, and stuck them in my room," he said.

"I found something, too." Noelle brought her hands from behind her back. She passed the bag she was holding to him. She beamed as he first looked perplexed, then curious, then finally reached inside to solve the mystery. It was a wire-bound sketchbook, slightly smaller than the one he'd been using. Its covers were hard and plain black with one decoration: a row of tiny white snowflakes along the top.

"You bought this for me?" he asked incredulously.

"Yep. For notes on Snowflake only. But if you think of anything else to draw in there, I might let you." She almost burst, she was so pleased with herself for buying a random present.

"Ohh... thank you, Noelle," Tracey said. "But... why?"

"Because I wanted to."

"But didn't you tell me you don't have any money?"

"Well... _now_ I don't have any money." She scratched her head awkwardly. The rose was still tucked behind her ear, and she snatched it away and hid it behind her back, laughing as though nothing had happened. 


	5. Dreams and Mysteries! The Annual Summer ...

Mmm. Plot points. Mmm x 2. To be continued ending. o^.^o  
I should also like to point out that Tracey has a sneakycute way of worming more cuteness than is necessary into each chapter. I'ma catch you at it one of these days, nature boy.  
(I've had a lot of coffee today. o_x)  
--Neekachu

**Dreams and Mysteries! The Annual Summer Talent Show!**

Machoke's fists succeeded in pounding the earth as the little Meowth bounded away, her gracefulness present even in this unmatched battle. "Don't just stand there!" Machoke's trainer shouted. "Pound that puny kitten!" It obeyed instantly, scrambling after Meowth and stopping her in her tracks with a full-on body slam.

"Nyaasi, no!" Midori cried. He dared a glance at his challenger; the man had his shoulders hunched up, grinning with satisfaction. There was something wrong... this passing guy had asked Midori for a battle with the Meowth at his feet, but why had he chosen his obviously stronger Machoke against her? No honorable trainer requested a battle when he knew he'd win.

"I think that's the end of that," the challenger announced. "Unless your Meowth thinks it can stand." He burst out laughing as, when Machoke rose, Nyaasi did stumble to her feet, growling quietly.

"Don't!" Midori called to her. "The match is over!" He ran to his pokémon, kneeling beside her. "It's okay, Nyaasi. There's no shame in being defeated by a powertrainer."

"Oh, isn't there?" The trainer chuckled. "Machoke! You know what to do!"

It happened too fast for Midori to defend himself. The Machoke had him pinned to the ground, getting up only when it had ripped the pokéball from its cord around Midori's neck. "What kind of person wears a pokéball as a necklace, I wonder?" the trainer asked rhetorically, holding his hand out to his approaching Machoke. "The kind that's obviously treasuring a rare pokémon. Thanks, pretty boy." He laughed and turned on his heel sharply.

Midori was on his feet in a flash. He raced along the side of the path, passing his enemy, and jumping from an old log to block his path. "Give that back," he said in between gasps of breath.

"Oh, please." The thief, older and bulkier, pushed the red-haired boy out of his way. "Machoke," he said vaguely as he passed. His pokémon, still trailing behind him, paused to deliver a ruthless punch to Midori's gut. He crumpled to the ground, clutching his stomach.

Seconds passed like an eternity until he could breathe properly, to be able to see the forest around him without flashes of light getting in the way. "Dengon," he rasped.

"Nyaa?" Nyaasi had come to him, nuzzling his hand.

"It's time for you to rest." Midori fished her pokéball from his coat pocket and recalled her inside. He steadied himself with one hand on the ground, trying to rise, but the pain in his stomach sent him collapsing to the ground again. "No..." he whispered. "Dengon..."

The pokémon bandit glanced behind him after a few minutes. "I don't think he'll be bothering me anymore," he said. "Good job, Machoke." He called it back to its ball. "Now, let's see what I've got here." He now held only his latest prize, an ordinary and slightly scratched pokéball, dull with age. Maybe its plainness was meant to throw off anyone who saw it, so they wouldn't suspect what was inside, but he was smarter than to fall for that. The look of that boy and his weathered trench coat, the way he touched the pokéball frequently, checking to make sure it was still there -- it was obviously worth protecting. People with treasures were always too sentimental about them; wearing it around his neck was a dead giveaway.

His thumb had just brushed the activation button when he became aware of something else. It was dark. Of course, it would have been dark; the sun was setting during his battle. But now he saw all-consuming darkness, and not the trees around him nor the ground beneath him. "What is this?" he asked aloud, his voice sounding funny. "Hey!" He whipped around, throwing punches in the empty air.

The next thing of which Midori Rougan was aware was a terrified scream and the startled flapping of a Pidgey flock, squawking in response to the noise. He held his fingers to his head. He knew _what_ he'd done, but, just like before, he wasn't aware of _doing_ it. He steeled his nerves and forced himself to stand, pleased that the throbbing in his stomach was subsiding. He hobbled down the forest path for several feet until he discovered his bandit foe lying on the ground, his eyes wide open but not blinking. Occasionally he'd twitch and attempt to speak, softly and in desperation.

Midori picked up his pokéball from the thief's hand. He held it against his lips. _You're safe now,_ he said silently, and to the immobile man before him, he added, "I hope you're enjoying your nightmare." He brushed his hand along the side of his coat, flaring it out behind him as he stepped over the bandit.

~ * ~

Noelle was having a vivid dream.

She was walking along an endless beach. Suddenly three figures appeared in her path. The first was Gary, holding out a red rose. "I won it for you," he said.

Second was James, a similiar red rose in his hand. "I stole it for you," he told Noelle.

Tracey was third, and he was drawing on a sketchpad. He showed the picture to her, and it turned into an equally lovely rose. "I drew it for you."

Noelle couldn't think of what to say to any of them. She looked around in hopes of finding an answer. Across the water of the tranquil ocean was another figure, so Noelle approached it.

It was a woman's silhouette, her long, straight hair blowing off to one side, her feet stepping daintily on top of the water. "All conflicts have resolutions," she said. "At least, that's how we keep _our_ spirits up."

Noelle didn't know what to say, but the sight of her and her cryptic words put her mind at ease. This woman was young, tall, and regal, with skin of powder blue and hair of silver. She gave Noelle a patient smile, and held out her hands as she began to fade away.

When Noelle woke up, she was stricken with a sense of unbearable yearning. She sat up, saw that the bed across the little hotel room was empty, and got up. Snowflake, she noticed, was still dozing on her pillow, so she left it undisturbed and went to find Tracey.

"Hi, Noelle," he greeted her in the lobby. At his feet, Marill, Venonat, and even Scyther were having their breakfast from dishes of pokéchow. "Looks like it's your turn to just crawl out of bed, huh?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"At least I wear more than my underwear," she replied with a yawn. "What's breakfast for us humans?"

"I'm afraid this isn't a pokémon center. We'll have to go somewhere else for breakfast."

"Awww." They'd been too tired last night to make it to Saffron's center, so they'd stopped at a hotel in a small town on the way. "Is there anywhere around here to get a good breakfast?" Noelle asked.

"I guess we'll find out, after you get ready."

"Mmm-hmm." Noelle was watching his pokémon eat.

"You can bring Seel and Snowflake out here to share with these guys... Noelle? Are you okay?"

She snapped out of her trance. "I had a weird dream."

"Oh? Is everything alright?"

She didn't want to tell him she'd dreamed about him alongside Gary and James. "It was bizarre. Just a dream. I'll go get my pokémon."

She took a lingering shower in the hotel's tiny bathroom, trying to remember the mysterious woman. Surely she was just a figment of Noelle's subconscious, right? She did have blue skin...

There were other things to think about, though, and she really didn't want to bother Tracey with her silly dream. As they searched for a place to eat, she brought up the fact that she was really going to have to find some trainers to battle.

"I'm really surprised we didn't see any on our way here," he mused. "I wonder where they all are?"

"Ohh... how am I going to pay for breakfast?" Noelle hung her head, feeling guilty about her lavish spending in Cerulean City.

"I think Professor Oak's account can cover you there," Tracey said with a smile. "Besides, I have to pay you back for buying me that new sketchbook."

"What? No way! That was a present!" Noelle slapped his shoulder lightly. "You don't owe someone for that!"

"Okay, then breakfast is a present for you. But not a very good one, since you need breakfast to live."

Noelle smiled gratefully. "Well, as soon as I get some money of my own... hey!" She stopped before a store's window, reading a sign taped on the inside. "Look, Tracey! 'Sunny Town Summer Talent Show.' Look at that cash prize!"

"Wow." Tracey read it over. "Too bad it's today."

"Today!?"

"Yeah, otherwise I bet having Snowflake would earn you points for winning. See, 'judging based on unique pokémon and creative trainer talents.'"

"I wonder what that means. Ohh... I _have_ to enter! Come on, let's think of something over breakfast!"

"You're not serious, are you?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Hey, I know! You're a talented artist! Maybe you can do speed-sketching onstage!"

"I don't think it works that way..." Tracey said, following her now a bit reluctantly.

They settled on a little café for breakfast, dining outside under a circular table's wide umbrella. As much as Noelle was enjoying the small-town quaintness, not to mention the knowing smiles of their waitress -- as the two of them most certainly looked like a couple -- she did her best not to babble about it. This contest, and the reward it promised, was more important than her observations.

But they still hadn't come up with a plan by the time they were finished with breakfast. The best Noelle could think of was singing. "Maybe Snowflake will catch on and give me some backup," she said as she and Tracey headed for the edge of town where the contest was being held. "I named it Snowflake when it made it snow that one time... it was humming."

"It was?" Tracey repeated. "That almost sounds like a powder snow attack."

"Really? That's so cute!" Noelle squealed.

"Churu!" Snowflake seemed to agree.

"If it knows powder snow, then there's probably lower-level attacks it's learned, too," Tracey went on. "This is definitely worth looking into."

"You can do all the research you want later. The only thing Snowflake needs to know is how to sing along with me."

Next to the main route out of Sunny Town was the talent show's setup: a painted wooden stage, booths of varying refreshments, and colorful streamers draped over everything. It was also crowded; there was a group of people standing in front of every booth, some just in the middle of the field, many with pokémon in their arms or by their sides. "Must be a big event around here," Tracey commented.

"You'd better believe it," responded a passerby. "It's so flat and boring around here, so we have to do something every once and awhile."

Noelle grinned as she approached the stand bearing the words "Sign-ups here." "Is there any room left?" she asked the woman in charge.

"There sure is!" she answered eagerly, holding out a clipboard. "Just put your name and the pokémon you'll be using right here... did you remember to bring a bathing suit?"

Noelle, reaching for the board, paused. "Bathing suit?" She hadn't _seen_ any pools on the site.

"Have you ever been to one of our talent shows? It's the middle of summer, so it's a swimsuit competition."

The color quickly rose to Noelle's cheeks. "But your signs around town... isn't there singing or other 'creative trainer talents'?"

"Well, I suppose you could, but around here, everyone's a little more interested in the contestants' bathing suits." The woman chuckled. "Oh, but don't look so offended! There are two winners, a female _and_ a male. You could enter too, honey." She smiled at Tracey, who turned even redder than Noelle.

There was a long silence between them, and Noelle said, "Well, there is that prize. We do need it." She started to write her name on the sign-up sheet.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tracey asked.

She exhaled with resolve as she wrote "Snowflake" beside her name. "I'm sure. Besides, don't you think I could win in my bathing suit?" She smiled mischievously.

"I--" Tracey was caught off guard. "Um... it's not my place to... I mean, if I was a judge, there wouldn't be any contest, because you..."

Noelle squealed. "Awww, you're so sweet!" she exclaimed.

"Hold on, Noelle," the woman behind the booth said. "What's Snowflake?"

"Uh?" Noelle turned to her, having to put a halt to teasing Tracey. "This is Snowflake." She held up the pokémon in her arms. "Churu!" Snowflake introduced itself.

"Is it a pokémon? I've never seen it before. I'm afraid you might have to use a classified pokémon, dear. An undiscovered species may be a little _too_ unique."

"Oh." _So much for a sing-along,_ Noelle thought, erasing the "Snowflake" on the paper and pencilling in "Seel." The woman nodded in approval. "The show starts at two o'clock, so just make sure you're here by then."

"Okay. Thanks." Noelle waved and left the booth, walking back towards town. Tracey followed her. "I can't believe you're going to do it," he said.

"Just keep thinking of that prize money," she told him with a smile that hid her nervousness only partly.

"I never thought I'd hear _you_ say that." Tracey grinned.

"We could get twice as much if you entered, too," she shot back.

"I don't think my talents are as 'creative' as yours."

Noelle burst out laughing. "I didn't think you had _those_ kinds of talents! Anything else you're not telling me?"

It didn't take long for Noelle to change into her bathing suit, but she spent quite a length of time in the motel room with the door closed. Tracey, leaning against the wall in the hallway outside, finally knocked on the door after awhile. "Everything okay in there?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," came Noelle's answer. "Just making sure Seel's okay... you can come in if you want to."

Tracey opened the door. Noelle was sitting on the bed, fully dressed, her knees pulled close to her chest. Tracey assumed her bathing suit was underneath her clothes, but Seel wasn't anywhere in sight. Snowflake was sitting next to her on the bed, however. "You almost ready to go back to the contest?" he asked. "We've got a couple of hours still, but maybe you could check out the competition."

"Yeah," Noelle said halfheartedly. She jumped off the bed. "Just make sure you don't cheer too loudly for me, okay?" She laughed, which faded quickly. "Tracey?" she asked softly, staring at the floor. "I think I'm nervous."

"Oh... I'm sure you'll be fine. I meant it, what I didn't exactly say before." He flushed saying that much.

"It's not that. Not really. I mean... have I really come to showing off in a bathing suit for some spending money? Is it that I want the prize... or do I have some deep-seated need to parade around in nothing but swimwear?"

Tracey didn't know how to respond to that. "I don't think you're a showoff," he found himself saying at last. "If you're so worried, you don't have to do it. There's still trainers you can battle. Saffron's really close to here, so I'm sure there will be lots of people wanting to prepare for the gym."

"I... I don't know. Maybe."

Tracey raised an eyebrow. This was the same girl who was so delighted when he'd indirectly complimented her physique? He took a deep breath. If he didn't say it, he'd be kicking himself for it later. "There's nothing wrong with showing off if you're entitled to it," he said. "Not that you'd need to compete against any other girls in any contest."

Noelle stared at him, stunned. _Why did I say it?_ he thought. _She knows she's beautiful, and she doesn't need some idiot blurting it out..._

"Thank you," she said softly, the surprise lingering in her voice. She brushed her pigtails behind her shoulders. "I don't know what I'm going on about. I'll just go and get it over with, eh? It might even be fun!"

"If you really think so," Tracey said. "It's up to you."

"You encouraged me." Noelle smiled as she walked towards the door, paused in front of Tracey, and hugged him. Tracey caught his breath. _I can't believe it!_ he thought, feeling his heart pound. _Do something!_ He raised his arms, ready to hold her against him, but she pulled away at just that moment. "Well, we'd better get going," she said, her cheerfulness returning.

Tracey's arms dropped back down to his sides as she returned to the bed to get Snowflake, then exited the room. He dutifully followed her, lest she turn her attention to his complete shock rather than the upcoming contest.

Noelle handed Snowflake to Tracey when they returned to the contest site, taking Seel's pokéball in her hand. "Do you know what you're going to do onstage?" Tracey asked.

Noelle shook her head. "Look pretty, I suppose," she said with a small laugh. "Seel's pretty, too. I'm sure it'll come up with a unique ice attack." She held up two fingers for victory.

A handful of teenage girls clad solely in bathing suits were entering one tent behind the stage. An older guy stuck his head out of the neighboring one. "Guess I've got to get in line," Noelle said. "I'll see you later, Tracey." She patted Snowflake on its head and waved farewell.

_It really would be more of a reassurance if Tracey entered, too,_ she thought. _What's his problem, anyway? He wouldn't go swimming at the Cerulean gym, and now this... he doesn't have any reason to be self-conscious._ She felt a little warm, thinking about how he'd said the same to her.

"Oh!" she gasped out loud upon entering the tent. There were about a dozen girls, all of whom seemed older, and were definitely much more developed than she. Her fingers curled tighter around Seel's pokéball, and she was trying to decide whether she should turn around and make some money battling trainers, fully clothed.

_No. Tracey thinks I can do it,_ she told herself. She made her way to a corner and undressed, suit in place underneath. She was folding her shirt and pants and setting them on a cardboard box when someone tapped her shoulder. She turned around and faced her mirror image.

"Waugh!" she exclaimed as she realized this girl in front of her was wearing her exact bathing suit, and had her blue-green hair in the same style as hers, two pigtails at the base of her neck. She grinned. "I like your suit," she said.

"You... you look like me!" Noelle exclaimed.

The girl stuck out her tongue cutely. "Don't you mean you look like me?"

"I--" Noelle was dumbstruck. She'd never been copied before. Or was this some kind of weird coincidence?

There was an announcement from outside that the show was starting. "Come on!" The teal-haired girl grabbed Noelle's wrist. "We all have to make an appearance onstage. Looks like the guys are going first... best for last, huh?"

Noelle fought with her rapidly sinking stomach. She listened while a woman on loudspeakers introduced the male contestants and their pokémon, then followed the other girls onto the stage. Her duplicate, fortunately, was separated from her in the rush. She didn't have time to think about that weirdness, anyway, as she called Seel from its pokéball. She picked it up and carried with her, since it couldn't walk too well on its own, and joined the other contestants in a lineup.

"And finally, the lovely ladies of the day!" called a man's voice over the speakers. Noelle took deep breaths and scanned the crowd. It seemed everyone in town had showed up, and probably some visiting trainers as well. This really was the highlight of the year.

"Noelle Winter, and her Seel!" She was announced, and Seel bounced in her arms, clapping its paws. Noelle laughed nervously and waved. She finally saw Tracey in the middle of the crowd, waving back at her. Snowflake puckered its lips out, throwing kisses with its tiny arms.

"And, last but not least," the man's voice boomed eagerly, "our returning champion, Duplica Imité!" An uproarious cheer came from the audience. Noelle leaned forward to see the well-received girl at the end of the line: her copycat. Duplica turned at the waist to wave at everyone surrounding the stage.

"Let's see what Duplica's pokémon partner is this year..." the announcer said. "Oh! It looks like she's got a Seel!"

_"What!?"_ Noelle cried, but only the girls standing next to her heard. What was going on? First this girl stole her image, and now she happened to have a Seel of her own? There was twice the pressure now, having to compete against this Noelle-esque champion and obvious town favorite. Those trainer challenges en route to Saffron City were starting to sound really good now... 


	6. A Winning Performance? The Spirit Inside...

**A Winning Performance? The Spirit Inside the Aurora!**

"That girl..." Tracey mumbled under his breath. "Why does she look just like Noelle?" Standing at the end of the line of twelve female contestants, Duplica waved and laughed delightfully. Around Tracey, the Sunny Town locals were cheering away. Returning champion, the announcer had said. Noelle herself looked nervous and confused, eyes fixated on the confident Duplica. Tracey tried to wave to her, but she didn't notice.

_And I thought one Noelle was a miracle,_ he said to himself. _Imagine two... maybe I should sketch that..._ He sniffed and brought his hand to his nose, checking to make sure there wasn't blood.

"Churu?" Snowflake craned its head up to see what Tracey was doing.

_How dare she... how dare she!_ Noelle thought. The girls were being prompted to go backstage, so that the men's contest could begin. Noelle, while carrying Seel, pushed her way past the other girls, all of whom were giving pep talks to their pokémon. Duplica sat confidently on a crate, examining her nails, while her own Seel sat at her feet.

"Hey, you," Noelle said directly. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Hmm?" Duplica blinked innocently.

"It's too much of a coincidence. My bathing suit is a one-of-a-kind design from the Cerulean Gym."

"Are you sure about that?" She smiled, holding her hand palm-outwards. Her nails were shaped to perfection and painted pink. At least that much was different about her.

"You have a Seel too, and your hair is the same as mine," Noelle pointed out. "It's too much. Why are you copying me?"

Duplica exhaled, ruffling her bangs. "You should be flattered. I win every year, and I do that by choosing the most beautiful contestant and imitating her. Only, apparantly, I seem to do better. Everyone loves it. And, always before, the girl I copied was pleased that I thought so highly of her. Everybody's happy."

"The most... beautiful...?" Noelle blushed. "But that's a horrible way to win! You should be yourself!"

Duplica stared at her for a moment, but, just then, two of the contestants approached. "Remember what happened last year?" one of them asked. Apparantly they'd competed the year before as well. All eleven girls were probably friends, and here was Noelle, the passerby, thinking she could upstage any one of these regulars. Humiliated, she turned away, disappearing into the changing tent where no one could look at her.

She noticed her light blue top and cargo pants, still folded neatly atop a cardboard box. "I could get dressed right now," she told Seel in her arms. "I'll slip into the crowd and find Tracey, and we'll leave. Maybe that would ruin Duplica's act, if the one she's imitating isn't there. Right?" She looked into Seel's shining brown eyes.

"I don't know, either," she said, as if in reply, and flopped down on a folding chair. There she stayed, listening to the female announcer on the loudspeaker, thinking about how she'd ended up here all the way from Pine City. And about Professor Holly, if she knew the Seel she'd graciously given Noelle was about to be her partner in a swimsuit competition.

Her further thinking about the professor was disrupted when it was announced that the male portion of the contest was over, and now it was time for what everyone had been waiting for. Still clad in her bathing suit, still meeting Seel's expectant gaze, Noelle decided to rejoin her competitors. Though, upon walking up to them outside, she realized she had no idea what she was supposed to do onstage, exactly...

The first girl onstage was one of the two that had spoken to Duplica. From behind the platform, Noelle couldn't see what was going on, but she heard an order: "Okay, Bellossom! Petal dance!" After a few seconds, there was applause and cheering from the audience. What did a pokémon attack have to do with performing?

Noelle heard the second girl request an upwards water gun from her Staryu. _Maybe I should've brought Tracey's Marill,_ Noelle speculated, imagining a gentle fountain spray of water to dance through. Did Seel know water gun? She knew it could head butt... she thought hard, trying to remember what she'd read before on what moves a Seel learned. There was one -- it might make for an onstage spectacle -- but did hers know it? Again she was ashamed she didn't know the level of her own pokémon, but it wasn't a normal starter. How long had Professor Holly had it in her care, anyway?

She jumped when her name was called. "Good luck," the girl behind her whispered sincerely. She was grateful for that ounce of support, and, as she took her first steps onto the short wooden stage, she saw Tracey in the audience instantly. Then her line of vision widened, and she realized just how many pairs of eyes were following her every step.

_Just like my childhood piano recitals,_ she thought, panicking. _So many people watching me, judging me, waiting for me to make a mistake..._

Seel made a tiny noise, causing Noelle to gasp. _How long have I been here!?_ she thought. She saw Tracey again, looking concerned. She set Seel down at her feet, standing up straight and clearing her throat. "Excuse me," she said, and took a breath.

_Please, gods of ice, I hope this works._ "Seel, aurora beam!" She cast her arm above her head, pointing at the sky, closing her eyes. She didn't hear anything, and when she dared to crack an eye open and glance down at Seel, she saw that its horn was glowing.

"Oh--" she started to say, and she was blinded by an exquisite burst of white and cyan and green and a chill. "What?" she said aloud. "What's going on? What do I do?"

"It's okay, Noelle." The voice was soft and youthful. Before her was the bare outline of a figure, white against white: a boy, possibly no more than ten. "Wouldn't it be something to dance with me around a magical aurora?" He took her hands, and they were twirling gracefully.

"What... what is this? Who are you?" Noelle asked, no longer seeing the stage or the audience or anything that wasn't shifting lights or this monochrome boy.

He laughed then, a short giggle of bemusement and fondness. It was then she noticed his wide brown eyes, and the little horn above them. "Seel?" she asked. "Are you my Seel?"

"I'll always be yours, if you'll let me. I knew that's what I wanted from the moment I saw you."

He'd swum to her, back in Professor Holly's lab. "Why are you like this?" she asked of his appearance. "Did I faint? Am I dreaming?"

The aurora was fading, and so was Seel. "I think you are, in a manner of speaking," he answered. "I'm not sure what you people call it."

"Wait!" He was pulling away, growing fainter. "I have more questions! Can I see you again?"

His smile showed more wisdom than could be allowed in a human ten-year-old. "Whenever you want," he said as he disappeared completely.

"But... how?" Noelle asked. The aurora beam had vanished completely, and Noelle was staring off in the distance, to one side of the stage. She blinked, taking in the sights before her: faraway trees, wooden stage, hushed audience, pleased Seel. Reminding herself hastily that she was still in a contest, she yanked Seel from the floor, bowed quickly, and rushed off the platform. She was only vaguely aware of the applause that followed, tentative at first, rising in awe and impression.

She didn't really listen to the other girls being called onstage, and was slightly aware of Duplica's name called last. Noelle stared at her Seel for the remainder of the show, trying to figure out just what happened. The only explanation she could come up with was that she fainted... fainted while standing up straight, that is. Doing nothing but hallucinating for her show would surely put her at last place. She didn't care at this point. The sooner she got away from this backwoods town and its elitist talent show, the better.

With that in mind, it didn't come as too much of a shock when Duplica was declared the winner of the girls' show. The rest of the young women filed back to the changing tent, murmuring among themselves how Duplica _always_ won, and they'd be sure to best her next year. Noelle got the impression they said that every year.

She was alone at last, waiting with Seel behind the platform stage for the majority of the girls to leave the tent. She didn't really feel like being around them any longer, not as the silly girl who wanted to show off her skimpy bathing suit but who blacked out when faced with a crowd.

"Noelle!" She heard Tracey's voice before she saw him coming up behind her quickly, Snowflake in his arms. "I... I'm so sorry you didn't win. From what I saw of the crowd's reaction, you were amazing."

"Amazing?" she repeated. "What's so amazing about standing there like an idiot?"

"What?" Tracey's eyebrows furrowed. "What are you talking about? It looked like you were ballroom dancing... and quite convincingly, since you didn't have a partner. Is that something else you learned in Pine City?"

Noelle stared at him. "Is that what you saw?"

He seemed all the more confused by her questions. "Yes, you were dancing, surrounded by the lights of Seel's aurora beam. What happened up there? Didn't you know what you were doing?"

"Hey! Noelle!" Before she could answer, Duplica was running up to them. Noelle didn't recognize her at first; she was fully dressed in jeans and a small t-shirt of pink. Her hair was freed from the low-hanging pigtails, draped over her shoulders. "I'm glad you're still here," she said. "I really wanted to talk to you."

"Congratulations on your victory," Noelle said quietly, not wanting to lash out. "I'm sure you can buy another heap of everyone else's outfits with your prize money."

Duplica obviously didn't miss Noelle's scathing tone. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about," she said, reaching for her back pocket. She held out a slip of paper to Noelle. "It's the check for the prize. I want you to have it. You were so much better than I was."

"Oh," Tracey whispered while Noelle stood silently.

"I mean," Duplica went on, "I was watching from the edge of the stage while you were on. It was beautiful, and so convincing. Like you were really dancing with someone. I went up there and ordered an ice beam, and it sort of resembled a chair, so I did a little dance around it and sat in it at the end... I don't know, it seemed cute... but it wasn't anywhere near as nice as yours. The audience, they really liked it, but this is just some silly local thing, and they'd consider it a crime not to nominate me the winner."

"It's my fault. I should've realized that before I entered," Noelle said. "Keep your prize."

"No, it's not fair. See, I don't really have a Seel, anyway." Her pokémon was sitting patiently at her feet. "Go on, transform," she said. Her Seel nodded, beginning to glow. Its body was changing, self-molding into something entirely unrecognizable, and when its white glow faded, a small pink blob with a cute little face was there.

"Oh wow! A Ditto!" Tracey exclaimed. "I've never seen one in person!"

_Whose side are you on?_ Noelle thought.

"I told you I just like to imitate someone every year," Duplica said. "And I have Ditto transform into her pokémon. I picked you because I'd never seen you before, and, um..." She paused, blushing. "I think you're really pretty. I'm sorry if I offended you, and that's why I want you to have the prize money. You're traveling with your friend and the pokémon between the two of you, I'm sure. Besides," she paused for a moment, "what you said to me before, that I should just be myself... um. Well, it just stuck with me, that's all."

Noelle's annoyance melted away. Something about the way she'd said it, like it had taken all her courage -- she couldn't stay mad. "I guess you have to do something to keep entertained in this place, huh?" She smiled warmly.

Duplica giggled. "It's true. I used to have my theater, but I've closed and reopened it so many times now it's not funny. No one's coming anymore, so I have to find a new hobby."

"You run a theater? All by yourself?" Tracey asked.

"Well, not really. Go and get changed, Noelle, and I'll show you both. If you want to see it."

"Sure!" Noelle agreed, happier to make a friend than a rival. She ran off to the changing tent, and emerged some time later gratefully in her clothes. "Thank you for your help onstage, Seel," she said, taking the pokéball from her pocket, enlarging it, and retracting Seel back inside. Tracey handed Snowflake to her.

"Aww, what a cute little pokémon!" Duplica exclaimed. "But what is it?"

"We'll have to tell you the story on the way to this theater of yours," Noelle said. The three of them walked away from the talent show area together.

"Whoa..." was Tracey's reaction as they found themselves standing before a large house shaped like a castle -- tall, a turret on each end, and even a little ominous-looking. A faded sign hung at the top, reading "Imité House." "This is yours? You live here?" Tracey asked.

"Yep, just me and Ditto," answered Duplica.

"All by yourself? Wow, I'm jealous. Your own mansion." He noticed that Noelle was quiet, staring at the house with mixed emotion.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," Duplica said. "It's pretty lonely, for one thing. See, my parents are actors, and they travel around the world. I'd just get in the way, so I stay and look after the house with Ditto. I've had it open a few times as a theater... but not that many people come this way. They'd rather see movies at a cinema in Saffron than an amateur stage show here." She sighed. "Though now you're here! You can watch Ditto and me do one of our dress-up skits..." She trailed off, glancing in Noelle's direction. "But maybe I've done too much stage work today, huh? You can come in and see my costumes... and I could make dinner for all of us... if you want."

To her complete delight, Noelle smiled. "That sounds great, Duplica. You're so nice to invite us."

Duplica beamed and opened the door for them. "The first floor is nothing but the theater," she explained. "Upstairs are all the regular rooms. Two of them are just giant closets." She grinned with pride.

Noelle peered through the theater's back doors, taking in the sight of the stage and all the seats. Being inside a mansion again unnerved her, but she tried not to let it show. Tracey certainly seemed impressed, and Duplica happy to give a tour. Noelle wanted to like Duplica. Her own problems weren't going to do any good.

"Come on, Noelle!" Duplica called. "Come see the upstairs!"

"Okay!" She smiled and followed Tracey behind Duplica, but her mind was still reeling, reminded of other personal issues. Tracey and Duplica both had seen her moving around the stage, dancing as though she'd had a real partner... as though the humanlike Seel was there for all to see. But obviously he hadn't been, for neither of her friends admitted to seeing him. What had happened? She wanted to ask Tracey for his opinion, but the idea of sounding completely insane held her back. Surely it was just nerves, and she imagined the whole thing as a way of dealing with being in front of such a large crowd. There was no need to make Tracey worry about her mental stability.

~ * ~

Audrey Holly stumbled out of the washroom, wiping her damp hands on the seat of her nightgown. The video phone in the lab was ringing. "Jynx!" she called. "Answer the phone!"

It was still ringing. Audrey took a sideways step, brushing her shoulder against the wall and muttering to herself. "Jynx?" she tried again. Her pokémon assistant was probably asleep. She didn't want to talk to the sadist calling her at this hour. She didn't want to do much of anything except sleep. Or maybe have another drink. She stood still in the hallway, trying to decide between a drink or bed. Or answering the phone. _Why_ wasn't Jynx around?

The ringing became too much. "If I pick it up, maybe they'll go away," she reasoned. It made sense to _her._ She snatched the phone from the receiver. "Hello?" she asked, wondering if her voice sounded too fuzzy.

"Hi, Professor Holly!" It was her, the hopeful ice-type trainer, Noelle. Her eager smile faded. "Is this a bad time? I'm so sorry! You look like you were asleep."

"Oh, no, I wasn't sleeping. Just getting ready to." Audrey lowered herself to the chair -- and missed it completely.

"Professor Holly!" Noelle gasped. "Are you all right?"

Audrey winced and climbed back to her feet, leveling herself on the video phone's stand. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure to aim for the chair this time. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought," she said. _Such a good example you're setting,_ she chided herself.

"I can call you back tomorrow, really," Noelle said. "In fact, I'm sorry I haven't called you sooner. But things have been going really well."

"I'm just glad to hear from you," Audrey told her. "I've been wondering how you're doing."

"Look!" Noelle held a tiny figure up to the screen. Pudgy in shape, like a baby, with light purple skin, pale yellow paws and front, and smooth blond hair, it blinked its saucer-round blue eyes at the sight of Audrey and went "churu!"

Audrey rubbed her eyes with her fingertips behind her glasses. She couldn't be staring at something she'd never seen before. "It's a mystery pokémon!" Noelle said. "I named it Snowflake. Isn't it sweet?"

"That's... that's quite a find," Audrey replied.

"Snowflake's not all I've found." Noelle grinned. "I've been travelling with a friend ever since I left Cerulean City." She pulled a boy in view of the screen by his t-shirt sleeve. "This is Tracey, and he's Professor Oak's assistant. He's going to take Snowflake to him, because he was looking for new pokémon anyway. Isn't that convenient?"

So he was the assistant Professor Oak had mentioned. Tracey waved to her. "It's nice to meet you, Professor Holly," he said. "I've read some of your articles about special care of water pokémon. I have a Marill, so it's good to know how to take the best care of it."

Audrey smiled. "I'm glad you're finding some use in my work, then."

"There's someone else, too!" Noelle interjected. Another girl leaned over her shoulder. "This is Duplica, who we just met today. We're at her house right now. She offered to have us stay the night, even."

The teenage girl with long, blue-green hair waved, too. "Hi!"

"Seel's doing great," Noelle went on. "I think it's really happy with me. It knows aurora beam! So I guess it's at a higher level than I first thought, huh?"

"It should be around level twenty," Audrey surmised. "So if you want a Dewgong, you'll have to do lots of training."

"I will! I don't think I'm entering the Indigo League competition... is that okay?"

"You can do whatever you want, Noelle. I never specified that my Seel had to enter the league challenge."

"I think what I'd really like to do is study pokémon one-on-one, like Tracey does," Noelle said.

"You don't want a boring career like that," he said teasingly to her.

"Who said it was boring?" Noelle reached up and ruffled his hair. He all but squealed in defense. Duplica leaned in close to the screen and said to Audrey, "They always seem to be like that."

"They do, do they?" the professor asked.

"And I've only known them for a few hours. Aren't they cute?"

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Noelle turned her attention to Duplica instead, poking her side. Duplica squirmed as Noelle poked more. "That tickles!" she shrieked.

"AHA!" Noelle was taking full advantage of the newly-discovered weakness as Duplica cried for mercy.

Audrey chuckled as she watched the spectacle. Just when she'd given up hope that she'd never hear from her one and only fan again. She felt vicariously happy for Noelle, watching her play with her friends. _I know you'll succeed in anything you try,_ she thought, words she wanted to voice but couldn't. _But please, don't give any more thought to entering the Indigo League... I don't want you to face_ her _and have your heart broken, too..._


	7. The Jade Road! Veteran Trainer and Enigm...

Wow, FFN doesn't like me today. x_x  
--Neekachu

**The Jade Road! Veteran Trainer and Enigmatic Wanderer!**

The image in Midori's mind was clearer than it had ever been. He was close now, and the time to meet would be soon. Possibly today.

"If I can stay awake," he mumbled to himself, yawning and checking his watch. 1:30 in the afternoon. He really wasn't used to being awake this early.

It was unbelievable -- the stuff he'd started reading four years ago, it was really coming true. Lately he'd concluded that it was all a fantasy, but with what he felt now, how Nyaasi and his other three pokémon reacted to situations, he knew it was quite real.

He drew in a deep breath and began in the direction of the Saffron pokémon center. The girl's mental picture was the only thing on which he focused.

~ * ~

Gary Oak looked up from his pokédex's map. "Good," he said, thinking aloud. "I can stay at the Saffron Center tonight." Used as he was to sleeping outdoors, there was just no replacing a soft bed in a building. He shut off the dex and put it in his backpack's front pocket. This return to Kanto was making him nostalgic. Training his new pokémon team in this area would greatly help to build up their strength for the Johto League Championship challenge.

But a morning of battling wild pokémon had made both him and his team weary and hungry. He found himself at the center sooner than he'd intended for a rest and lunch. _If only I could just be revived in a pokéball on a machine, too,_ he thought as he walked through the buffet line.

At least there were only two other trainers here, the lunchtime rush over. Gary sat down at the end of one table with his tray, content with the quiet. The others were each reading, one a newspaper and one a magazine. Gary reached for his ice water.

"I can't wait to get something to eat!" a girl's voice exclaimed from the cafeteria entrance. "I didn't realize it would take so long to bike here from Sunny Town! I should've made a bigger breakfast, huh?"

Gary sighed. So much for a peaceful lunch. He glanced up nonchalantly to identify the annoying speaker. There were three people making way to the buffet, and only two of them were female. A jolt seared through Gary's body as he realized who the guy accompanying them was. He lowered his head, cursing his luck. Of all the centers in this part of the country, _why_ this one?

"Where do you wanna sit?" the first girl asked her friends. "Looks like we've got our pick, pretty much. Why do you think it's so empty in here?"

"People are usually done with lunch by this time," the guy answered. Gary drew in his breath.

"Well, let's go by the window. Fresh air is nice. And I'm still hot from that bike ride." They were walking past, right next to him at the end of his table.

"Gary?" the other girl spoke up. "Gary Oak? Is that you?"

That caught him off guard. Who was here that knew him? Granted, he hadn't bothered to identify her before, he was too much in shock. But he couldn't just sit there staring at his tray. He looked up at his addresser. Royal blue pigtails, wide eyes, clear and pale skin... he'd definitely seen her before. Instead of a lunch tray, she was carrying a little pokémon, purple with blond hair. She was the Seel trainer from the Pewter center.

"Oh," he said to her. "Noelle, right?"

"Right!" She smiled wide. "You... you remember me."

The teal-haired girl with her paused while the guy made his way to a seat at the other end of the room. "You know this guy, Noelle?" she asked with a big grin.

"Duplica, this is Gary Oak. He and I fought for Snowflake."

"I see." Gary didn't like Duplica's expression one bit.

"I'm going to leave Snowflake in your care," Noelle told her friend. "Because I can't carry her and a tray at the same time." She glanced at Gary and continued on to her table. Duplica followed, giggling.

_Snowflake?_ Gary wondered. _And "her"? How can she tell?_

Noelle passed by again with empty hands for her tray, giving Gary a small smile. He glanced over his shoulder, watching her move along the buffet table. She came his way again, and sat down across from him. He raised an eyebrow. "It's good to see you again," Noelle said. "I really want to thank you for letting me keep Snowflake again. She's really sweet."

"You named it, huh?" Gary asked. "Did you find out what it is yet?"

"Nope, but we're taking her to Professor Oak. You know, your grandfather."

Gary chuckled. "You figured that out? Did he tell you?" He nodded in the direction of Noelle's friends, in the direction of him, his grandpa's assistant.

Noelle followed his gaze, and her smile dropped, as though she just realized something. "Oh," she whispered. "Um. Can I talk to you later? And maybe have a rematch?"

He smirked. "Oh yeah. You did tell me you wanted one last time. Is your Seel any stronger?"

"A little bit. I want to train him more, and I think you'd be a good opponent." She rose, picking up her tray.

_"Him"?_ Gary thought. _Must be easier for her to think of her pokémon that way._

So Noelle had picked up travelling companions since leaving Pewter City. Had she gone to Pallet Town, then? Where else could she have met Tracey? And furthermore, why was he here and not at the lab?

An obnoxious, giggling girl and _Tracey._ And Noelle had shown so much promise.

~ * ~

She was holding out her hand, waiting for him to take it. The mental Midori rejoiced at meeting a kindred spirit after so many years. The physical Midori was fast becoming smitten, and arguing with himself over the fact.

_Don't be an idiot. You have_ her, _and your promise._

She's been gone so long, she may have grown up and forgotten me. The world is ever-changing.

She's your kindred spirit, too. You'll have seven of them when your search is over. Will you fall for each one in turn?

If they're as pure and serene as this one, then I just might.

His body felt lighter with every step. Now the grass was getting shorter, fewer trees along the dirt-lined road. When Midori paused at the top of a small hill, he saw below him the city of Saffron.

_Oh, Dengon..._ he thought to the dormant pokémon in the ball around his neck.

Center first. This was the city, and it was early July; too hot for a trench coat. But should he really leave it behind? He didn't feel like himself without it. In any case, he should clean up first.

As he expected, the pokémon center was hauntingly empty. Nurse Joy leaned nonchalantly over the counter, flipping through a magazine with a bored expression on her face. It took her a second to realize someone was approaching her. "Oh!" she gasped, startled by the long-haired stranger in black.

"Forgive me," Midori said. "I was just wondering if I could register a room." He pulled his trainer's license from an inside pocket.

"Of course you can." Joy gave him an apologetic smile as she handed over a key.

Midori studied his reflection in the room's door-mounted window as he combed his hair. Poor Joy had been so jumpy... but he supposed that was because he interrupted her peaceful reading. He wasn't that intimidating, was he? Surely the patient soul of the blue-haired goddess would recognize him at first sight...

~ * ~

In the yard behind the pokémon center, Gary waited for Noelle to join him for their rematch. He stared at the pokéball in his hand. _I must be going soft,_ he thought.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Noelle was approaching, followed by her friend Duplica. Both girls were smiling excitedly, though why Duplica was excited, Gary failed to understand.

"Where's Tracey?" he asked.

"He decided to stay inside with Snowflake," Noelle answered dubiously. Gary snorted. "Say, just what's the story with you two, anyway?" she followed up.

"Eh?" That question caught Gary off guard. "Nothing happened between us! What are you--" He paused when he noticed Noelle raising an eyebrow, puzzled at his defense. _Nice going,_ he chided himself.

Noelle and Duplica exchanged glances. "Well, I'll have you know that Tracey is my friend, so don't you say anything about him in front of me," Noelle declared.

"How noble of you." Gary brushed his cloak aside.

"Aren't you a little hot in that?" Noelle asked.

"Oh, I think he's more than a little hot." Duplica burst into giggles.

Gary rolled his eyes. Typical girl.

"Now, Duplica." Noelle's tone was anything but reproachful, no matter how much she tried to make it sound so. "We're here to battle. He already knows he's hot." She giggled along with her friend. "Anyway." She faced her opponent again. "Shall we begin?"

"Yes, we shall. I'll have you know I'm feeling generous, so I purposefully chose a pokémon that would be at a disadvantage to your ice-type."

Noelle blinked. "But... that's so unfair."

"I'm quite certain mine is at least ten levels higher than yours, though. Now is it unfair?"

"Touché. Come on out, Seel!"

Gary drew a breath. "Go, Dratini!"

"Oh wow! It's so cute!" Noelle gushed, seeing the little blue dragon for what was obviously the first time. "Cute" wasn't exactly the word Gary would attribute to a mighty dragon-type in its pre-evolved state.

"Awww!" Duplica echoed. "Look at those little wings!"

She'd had the same reaction to his Eevee the first time they'd battled. Didn't she know that pokémon were more than cute animals? She'd learn soon. "Are you ready?" he announced. This first attack was for her own good. "Dratini, slam attack!"

"Oh!" Noelle gasped. Predictably, she wasn't paying attention, and Seel was knocked aside, tumbling in the grass.

"Start up a twister!" Gary ordered. Loose blades of grass spun about Dratini's head.

"Get up and headbutt!" was Noelle's counterattack.

_What is she doing?_ he wondered. _Doesn't she realize that ice is strong against dragons?_

But Seel's headbutt was enough to distract Dratini from gathering its twister, if not damaging it much. "Never mind that! Dragonrage!" he called.

Noelle's eyes were wide. She was truly afraid. "Aurora beam!" she ordered.

_I don't know what she's playing at,_ Gary mused, watching the red-gold blaze of dragonrage mingle with the shining rainbow waves of aurora beam. _She's much too weak-willed to be a serious trainer. She'd be better off raising little pokémon for pets, not asking someone like me for a battle. Twice._

Both Dratini and Seel were knocked backwards by either attack. Dratini may have taken double damage from the ice attack, but Seel, who had already been wounded by the physical slam, was just clinging to its remaining energy. _That poor Snowflake,_ he thought. _Who knows what will become of it, if it will stay a little purple marshmallow forever._

Something caught his eye -- a figure standing on the roof of the center, his arms folded across his chest, as though he'd been watching the battle for some time. "Who are you?" Gary called out to him.

He leapt, the air catching his long coat, the black fabric billowing. He landed in a kneel, steadying himself with one hand, waiting a moment before he rose and shook back his head of long, bright red hair. "My name is Midori Rougan," the stranger said. "I'm here to find a true pokémon master."

~ * ~

It was time. He saw three people outside through a window in the lobby. He wasn't the only one watching them. Another boy stood at a different window, holding a tiny pokémon Midori could not identify.

"You know, the view's more exciting if you're actually outside," Midori said to him as he passed.

"I'd rather not," he replied in a sullen voice.

"Suit yourself." Midori shrugged. "Me, I prefer the roof."

"The what?" he asked, but Midori smiled to himself, deciding not to respond.

Climbing window ledges was awkward, but he managed without falling off for once. He stood in place, planting his feet firmly against the shingles and watching the battle below. A wild-haired boy in a cloak was using a strongly-trained Dratini, and the young woman... she was struggling, frightened. The fragile thing...

"Who are you?" the boy demanded sharply, looking up and noticing him for the first time.

It demanded perfect timing, his entrance. He loved this part, jumping from the high spot, soaring to the ground, catching his fall gracefully, rising to meet astonished gazes. "My name is Midori Rougan," he said. He had to give a reason for his being there, of course, but a vague one. Couldn't have too many people knowing about his mission. "I'm here to find a true pokémon master." There, that was discreet enough.

"True pokémon master?" the boy repeated dubiously. But Midori didn't listen to him. The lady in dark blue pigtails was turning around, identifying him at last...

It wasn't her.

Midori felt his brain shatter. The soft, serene goddess from his vision was definitely not the same as this... this _girl._ _She's got to be the same age as my little sister!_ he thought frantically, and those deep, fleeting thoughts from three hours ago turned his stomach.

He glanced away, forcing his shock to remain hidden. He had to keep speaking, despite his racing thoughts. "Ah, yes," he spoke. "I represent an independent group of extraordinary pokémon trainers, and I'm constantly on the lookout for new talent."

_How? How did my psyche deceive me?_

"Well, I doubt you'll be disappointed." The cloaked boy smiled with pride. "My name is Gary Oak. Perhaps you've heard of me?"

"Ahh... hmm..." Midori pretended to think, noticing a third spectator in this scene for the first time. A teenage girl with fluffy, blue-green pigtails above each ear was staring up at him, eyes shining and mouth slightly open. Midori nodded to her, and her lips spread into a wide grin.

"Um." The blue-haired girl broke the impending silence. "So should we continue our battle?"

Midori studied her wounded Seel and Gary's stumbling Dratini, rattled and slightly blinded from the aurora beam. Well, there was still one way to find out... "Do you think Seel wants to battle?"

She gave him a perplexed look. "I-- I thought pokémon liked battling... in order to grow stronger."

"That's not what I'm asking. I hope you realize what I'm talking about. When you look at Seel, do you see what he is telling you directly?"

She gasped softly. That was the first sign. Midori, of course, had picked up on Seel's aura since he'd been on the roof.

"The talent show," she whispered. "Does that mean I wasn't hallucinating?"

Midori had no idea what she was talking about, but her teal-haired friend raised her eyebrows. On a hunch, Midori glanced over his shoulder and saw that the sullen boy from indoors had joined them at last, still holding the mystery pokémon. He, too, had wide eyes.

"What are you babbling about?" Gary Oak asked. "A good pokémon unconditionally obeys its trainer, right? Seel should want to battle because Noelle wants to be a professional ice trainer."

_Noelle._ The name seemed to fit, anyway. Midori watched her closely. She was staring at her pokémon.

"I see..." she said, practically to herself. "At least, I think I see..." She shook her head.

Midori was about to make a gutsy move. He walked up to her, getting a better look at her in doing so. Over a head shorter than he, she met his look with eyes of clear and pale blue. She seemed even more petite up close, her skin as pale as his own. "Do you ever find yourself understanding what he says when it sounds like he just repeats his name? Have you ever carried on a conversation with him, or any other pokémon, mentally, like in a dream?"

The crystal blue eyes seemed to waver. "How do you know?" she asked.

"If it's true, then you _are_ who I've been looking for." And he saw it, for just a moment. Beyond the realm of tangible sight, merged with her physical body, Midori glimpsed the blue-haired woman from his past visions, the goddess of ice. It was true. This little girl just hadn't grown into the role yet.

"This is for you." He reached into one of the inner pockets of his coat and pulled out a small, velvet, draw-string bag of hunter green. From this he retrieved a odd, shining token: a silver disc under a wide, jagged black line, inlaid with a tiny, pale green stone. "A badge of the Jade Road. If you ever meet someone with one of these, you'll know that they have the same gift that you do."

Noelle took the badge and studied it in her palm. "How many others are there?"

"Two."

She looked at him curiously.

"Myself, and an old friend."

"Wait a minute!" Gary interjected. "That's it? You're choosing your 'true pokémon master' based on the idea that Noelle understands her Seel? Anyone can tell what a pokémon's trying to say if they know it well enough!"

"I regret to inform you that it's a little more complicated than that," Midori said. "And I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss it openly."

"You just did, though."

Midori smirked.

Noelle's girlfriend ran up to her. "That's so pretty!" she said of the Jade Road badge. "It's like a gym badge, only more special, right? You don't _need_ the Indigo League now, you're a member of an exclusive club!"

"I..." Noelle blinked, glancing from her to Midori to the badge. "I guess so." She broke out into a pleased smile. "Thank you very much, Mr. Rougan."

"Please, call me Midori," he told her, a little ruffled.

She giggled happily. "This is so cool now! Is this a secret organization? Do we go spread the word of harmony and love between pokémon and humans?"

She was quite intuitive. "Not quite," Midori said with a chuckle. "When I find the other five, then we might know what we're supposed to do next."

"Only five?"

"That's even more special!" her friend gushed. "This is so awesome, I know someone in a super-secret club! Let's show it to Tracey and Snowflake!" She grabbed Noelle's wrist and pulled her towards the silent boy. Noelle held out a pokéball and recalled Seel, laughing merrily.

Gary came forward to stand next to Midori. "What's this really about?" he asked.

"Exactly what I said it was."

"I'll find out, you know. I have my ways."

Midori breathed a soft laugh through his nose. "No one will be able to tell you. But you may try, if you like." He stuck his hands in his coat pockets and walked over to Noelle and her two friends.

~ * ~

Gary gripped Dratini's pokéball, slightly warm from just having been activated. Not that he was impatient for it to evolve, but he hated a battle wasted. Noelle sure seemed to have a short attention span. She'd _requested_ this match, only to forget about it when she got a different prize from the red-haired stranger.

Several things unnerved him about the day, this arrogant badge-slinger topping them all. How many years had Gary been rigorously training? He ranked decently in the Indigo competition. He'd earned eight badges from the Johto League and was currently preparing for their championship. He'd gone on lengthy soul-searching quests and frequented temples of every variety across the Johto region. For Midori to induct a complete _novice_ into his secret society...

And just how was she the better choice? Unfocused in battle, irritatingly giddy, and, now that he thought about it, probably only interested in Gary out of physical attraction. It figured. The bitterness swelled inside him. Here he thought he saw something in her when they met in Pewter City.

He realized then that Noelle, Duplica, and Midori had gone indoors. Rooted in the same spot since Midori's presentation was Tracey, as though he was waiting for Gary to finish his musing and acknowledge him.

Gary sighed, and began to approach. He was at his side, facing the opposite direction and looking down at the grass when he said, "Are you ignoring me, Tracey?"

"Maybe," he replied. "I only came out here so you wouldn't think less of me than you already do."

"What I think still matters?"

"No. I suppose it doesn't."

There was a pause. "You like her, don't you? Is that why you're following her around, and not at Grandpa's lab?"

"She has nothing to do with that. Professor Oak sent me on an errand, and I met her along the way. I'm bringing her and her Snowflake to the lab with me." There was acid in Tracey's voice. "Despite your best wishes, he doesn't intend to throw me out. He doesn't care about what I am. He's got his little quirks, too. Did you know he has a girlfriend who's much, much younger?"

"I'm quite aware of who his love interest is, thank you very much. No need to rub it in."

Another silence. They still hadn't faced one another. Then Gary laughed once, under his breath, more to break the ice. "The forceful attitude suits you, Tracey. I think I'm impressed."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" A biting response, sarcastic and disbelieving.

"Maybe. I _have_ done a lot of thinking over the past year." He took a step, heading for the center, still staring at the ground. Tracey didn't say anything. _It's better this way,_ Gary thought. _I know you know that, Tracey. If you have feelings for Noelle, then you're the better man for it._


	8. Ice Beam! Team Rocket's Revenge!

Wow, it's been awhile. I finished chapter 8 in... October? @_@ Been busy + forgetful since then.  
I changed my pen name, too... so all my old author notes say "Neekachu," but I don't think I'm going to go through and edit them. Would much rather be working on chapter 9. ^_^  
-Pika-Zukin

**Ice Beam! Team Rocket's Revenge!**

Saffron City's pokémon center, while it boasted the latest video phone models and pokéball restoration systems, didn't offer separate rooms. The three friends invited Midori to share theirs, since two sets of bunk beds were provided in the room. He agreed, but had been oddly distant since introducing himself that afternoon. He excused himself to make a phone call in the lobby.

Noelle announced she would shower before dinner. Duplica and Tracey waited in the room for her, but they were too lost in their own thoughts for conversation with one another. Tracey flipped through one of his sketchbooks, black covers and a single line of snowflakes on the front for decoration. Duplica stared out the window.

Secretly, the notion of sharing a room like this with _two_ cute guys excited her, moreso than showing off on stage. This journeying business was already loads more fun than trying to build an acting career from tiny little Sunny Town. Noelle certainly had the right idea, inviting Duplica to travel with herself and Tracey. Maybe she'd find something on this trek... something that she couldn't identify, for she had no idea what it was that was missing from her life.

Perhaps it was because of that talent show. This year was Duplica's fourth win, and she got the feeling that her novelty was wearing off. _"That's a horrible way to win! You should be yourself!"_ Those words of Noelle's stuck with her more strongly than anything. _I don't know who 'myself' really is,_ she thought, watching a pair of Butterfree outside drift by the window. _Is it so wrong to focus on what makes me happy, rather than attempt to figure that out?_

Did being an actress make her a hundred different people she really wasn't?

The sketchbook Noelle had given Tracey was mostly empty. He'd filled only two pages with quick studies of Snowflake. Flipping through the blank paper was a ruse he'd taught himself, so it would look like he was reviewing his work rather than brooding.

He hadn't wanted to see Gary Oak again for the rest of his life.

But then, he never got what he wanted.

It was the way Noelle looked at Gary that got to him most, he decided. Tracey wasn't quite as jealous as he'd felt when James had openly flirted with her, and maybe that was because Gary didn't return her subtle advances. Which didn't make much sense at all. What kind of man ignored smiles and admiration from a beautiful girl?

The kind Gary fiercely claimed he wasn't, that's what.

Tracey sighed in frustration, glancing up to make sure Duplica wasn't paying attention to him. Gary was still a conceited jerk at heart, no matter how much he'd changed over the years. It never would have worked. And it wasn't as though Tracey _deliberately_ focused on Noelle to forget about him. He'd been long over Gary even before he _met_ her.

But it rattled him all the same. Professor Oak might forgive and accept him, but it was hard to guess what Noelle, cooped up in a conservative household all her life, would think.

And Noelle, not moving while refreshingly tepid water sprinkled over her body, had many things on her mind, all of equal importance, and she bounced from one thought to another in climatic chaos.

Midori. And his supposed gathering, the Jade Road. So there were gifted people with a second sight around pokémon? And she was one of them? She remembered the dream she'd dreamed a few times in the past -- the endless beach, the blue-skinned woman... was she a pokémon? Snowflake? She hadn't _felt_ like Snowflake... she was much older and wiser, whereas Snowflake obviously would be a young child. And there was Seel. Noelle had seen him clearly.

She had this power, and the only thing she could do about it was wait to meet the others. That had been Midori's answer.

How could someone like her be blessed with such a gift? When she'd only begun to take an interest in pokémon five years ago? When she'd only had her own for a handful of weeks? Why her? Someone like Tracey, sensitive and knowledgeable, was more suited to the task.

Whenever these questions came up, she quickly turned to other thoughts. Existentialism was not a subject that particularly interested the willingly carefree Noelle.

So she mulled over her encounter with Gary instead. Still intimadating, still powerful, still so... she didn't know _why_ his internal qualities attracted her, but they did, and she couldn't ignore that.

Yet there was some dark secret about Gary and Tracey that she didn't know. Tracey wouldn't even come out to see her battle, and she knew he wanted to support her. Were things between the two that bad? Did it have something to do with both of their relation to Professor Oak? Maybe he knew about it, and she could ask him privately... but she didn't want to pry into her best friend's past. That was his to reveal to her on his own, but with the hints she'd picked up here and there involving fighting parents, problems at school, and serious self-doubt, she didn't think she'd learn any time soon.

She looked around the shower stall, its close walls with slightly mildewy tiles. This was the final thing disrupting any chance for peace over the past few days -- she was growing annoyed with the traveller's lifestyle. It was July now, and constant biking in the sunshine worked up an awful sweat. Pokémon centers weren't air conditioned, either. She was tired of feeling hot and dishelved and filthy. She was tired of unfamiliar beds, sometimes with a small stain on the sheets, the permanent reminder that a careless stranger had once slept there. She was tired of wearing the same pants and t-shirt, even if she sent them to the laundry while she showered. Everything felt dirty, and the spoiled rich girl ingrained inside her was crying, _I want my giant, pristine room and a long bath in a spotless tub._

But it was silly to dwell on it. She was a pokémon trainer now, in some way or another. She had a license, and she had a destination, if only for a little while. After Professor Oak took a look at Snowflake... what then?

The empty future scared her as much as Midori's mystery, so she forced herself not to think about it. She was hungry, anyway, and her friends probably were, too. She grabbed her soap at last and rubbed it up and down one arm.

"Really? That's great news!" Yama, Midori's childhood friend, grinned, an expression Midori was glad to see over the video phone. "How long's it been since you started looking for others to give those badges to?"

"Four years," Midori answered instantly. "I just wish _she_ was around to hear about it, too."

Yama's expression softened. "Don't think about it too much. Didn't you always say the Jade Road brings you all together in the end?"

Midori chuckled. "Yes, I did. Thank you, my brother."

His tone was turning archaic again. Yama shook his head, amused. "You know, you're welcome to come stay at my gym any time you want. You don't have to be a hermit, too."

"I can't stop now. Maybe now I'm a stronger telepath than I realize, so finding the others will be as easy."

"I'm just saying. You can bring your new prodigy, even."

"She's got her own travelling companions."

"And I've got a huge gym. You know I'm glad to have company."

Midori would always be somewhat of a loner, but he depended upon the support of friends. He wrapped up his conversation with Yama and sought out his new ones. Tracey and Duplica were quiet and still in the bedroom, each deep in thought and ignorant of Midori standing in the open doorway. He was about to say hello when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye -- Noelle was approaching, wearing a complimentary bathrobe and a towel over her shoulders.

"Do excuse me," Midori said to her, stepping away from the room's entrance.

"Sorry I took so long," she said. "I'll hurry and get dressed, and then we can eat."

Duplica and Tracey snapped out of their trances and left so Noelle could get ready. Midori waited with them in the hall in silence, thinking of their visible melancholy and Noelle's subdued voice. _Why are they so upset?_ he wondered. _Do I bring all the darkness in the world to everyone I meet?_

The bedroom door opened soon. Noelle smoothed back her damp and unbound hair. "All right. Sorry for making you wait again. I'm starving." She smiled half-heartedly.

"I think we all are," Midori agreed. He reached into the back pocket of his black jeans, pulling out his wallet and peering inside. "What do you say to eating out? We _are_ in Saffron City."

The three of them gave him wide-eyed looks. "Aw, come on," he said. "It's the least I can do to thank you for letting me stay with you. You don't want to pass up the great restaurants here, do you?"

"We couldn't let you buy dinner for all of us," Noelle said.

"Wow, Midori!" Suddenly Duplica's attitude changed completely. She jumped to his side, taking his arm in her hands. "You're the best! You can stay with us as long as you want!"

He laughed nervously. "I'm glad I made your day, Duplica. So what do you feel like having?"

"I'll eat anything you like," she purred, giving his arm a squeeze and grinning.

Midori shot an amused sort of look to Noelle and Tracey. "Any opinion?"

"Of Duplica?" Tracey shot back with a grin.

The teal-haired girl stuck her tongue out at him. "This'll be great fun," she said. "Just like a double date!"

"Unh?" Noelle uttered, taken aback. She glanced at Tracey, who was looking away, embarrassed.

"Now, now," Midori said. "I'm not paying for a trip to the movies, too. Just dinner. So what's your favorite thing to eat, you three?"

"I like breakfast the best," Duplica piped up. "Maybe because I'm so good at making it." She paused to giggle. "Nothing's better than pancakes for me."

"She does make good pancakes," Noelle agreed. "Me, I think my favorite is... sushi."

"Oh?" Midori raised an eyebrow.

"Because it's so different. And exotic." Now she giggled. "How about you, Tracey? All this time, I never knew what your favorite thing to eat is."

"Hmm..." He had to think about it. "I like a lot of things, really. Professor Oak's, um, neighbor, Delia... she makes these huge dinners and is always inviting us over. I always have to watch that I don't stuff myself. But that sure beats trail mix and pokémon center fare back in my watcher days." His stomach growled audibly, and he blushed.

"That settles it, time to depart." Midori headed for the exit, Duplica still attached to his arm.

"What about you?" she asked as they stepped outside.

"My honest favorite?" Midori replied. "Real homemade pizza."

"Mmmm..." Duplica agreed. "That's a great idea, Midori." Noelle and Tracey were powerless to argue, especially when they found a pizzeria, and all but rushed inside.

"Wow," Noelle breathed, taking in the atmosphere as they sat down in a half-circle booth. The lighting was dim, and their own table included a candle inside a red glass sphere, radiating softly colored light. "I almost forgot about nice places to eat... although now it feels like I'm forgetting Snowflake, even though I know she's at the pokémon center."

"Does she not have her own pokéball?" Midori asked.

Noelle blinked, as if the thought had never occured to her. "No... I suppose she doesn't. And I have a few empty ones I haven't used... I suppose it is silly that I never thought to..." She fidgeted with her napkin.

"Not at all," Tracey spoke up. "It's pretty easy to see that Snowflake's a baby pokémon, right? You should keep her with you at all times, so she learns to trust you. It's hard to do that when she's inside a pokéball."

"Oh... yeah, you're right." Noelle beamed at him. "Thank you, Tracey. You're so smart."

Duplica giggled. Midori, while just as amused, kept his reaction in check and smiled silently.

They ordered two large pizzas for the four of them, and as they sat back to wait, Midori asked where their next destination was.

"I think we're continuing onto Pallet Town," Tracey answered. No one missed Noelle's quiet sigh, though.

"What?" She saw that all eyes were on her. "Don't pay any attention to me."

"You still want to come to Pallet with me, don't you?" Tracey asked. Perhaps his question meant more than the obvious, for Noelle looked at him with wide eyes and an unreadable but potentially flattered expression for a second.

"Of course I do," she said. "It's just -- I'm really sorry for sounding this way -- I love eating out like this, in a real restaurant after I've had a real shower that will last for only a few hours more, until we hit the road again... this one evening is spoiling me. I sound so horrible." She turned her head away from everyone.

"No you don't!" Duplica reassured her. "Come on, Noelle, only a filthy nutcase enjoys traipsing from one place to another on foot, sleeping on the ground and eating sticks and berries all the time."

"Hey!" both Midori and Tracey objected, laughing.

Duplica giggled again. "Okay, maybe nutcases and _boys_. It's only natural for us civilized young ladies to reach our destinations in style... the style of _this century_, maybe."

"All right, all right," Midori said. "I think I have an idea. Is it urgent that you get to Pallet Town within the next few days?"

"Not really," Tracey replied. "Honestly, it's not that far, Noelle..."

Midori held up a hand. "I'll have you know you three have already been invited somewhere. My friend in Vermilion, he has a gym. He told me I could bring my new companions for a stay. You could rest further from your travels, and enjoy fine cuisine. Yama is a master chef in training."

"Oooh?" Noelle sat upright. "That's so nice of him! Can we go, Tracey?" She blinked deliberately cutely at him.

"Wha--" If he had a response, he seemed to have forgotten it. "Why is it up to me?"

"Pleeeease?"

"I-- of course we can go. I can call Professor Oak to let him know about it."

"Yay!" both Noelle and Duplica chorused, and when the pizzas arrived, everyone dug in, celebrating their upcoming travel break as well as the end of their ravenous appetites.

~ * ~

It was no surprise, nor break from routine, that James Morgan awoke to a stiff neck and growling stomach. He sat up, realized the ground beneath him was rocking back and forth, and reflected on the previous night with some amount of panic.

He certainly couldn't remember doing anything that would warrant such a shaky awakening... and after rubbing the sleep from his eyes and actually looking at his surroundings, he realized he was in a boat, underneath a tarp. They'd spent the night hiding in the harbor.

He climbed out from underneath the tiny boat's plastic covering, clamboring onto the dock and stretching his back. He pulled off one of his gloves, running his hand through his hair and looking around. If the people mulling about the harbor noticed a disheveled young man in what could pass for an official-looking uniform, he didn't care. It wasn't as though the general public knew about Team Rocket. He really didn't think of himself as--

"What are you doing out here?" How Jessie managed to be so alert just after waking was still a mystery. She peered out from under the tarp at James, a glare in her eyes.

"Just trying to figure out where to get some food," he answered dully.

"That's a no-brainer, even for you. We're right by the sea."

James glanced at the calm, clear water. "So we are."

"Meowth! Wake up!" Jessie said crisply over her shoulder. "It's time to put those catlike reflexes of yours to work. We're going fishing."

James heard Meowth yawn and grumble under his breath, and he smiled to himself.

Fishing was a five-minute endeavor before Jessie launched her rod into the water. "What's wrong with these fish? They aren't taking my bait!"

"Maybe da sight of you in da morning scares 'em off," Meowth suggested with a hearty laugh.

"I didn't ask you!" Jessie kicked him several feet away.

"Back to picking pockets, then?" James said, as he'd done for so long now.

Two filched wallets later, the three of them ate a good-sized breakfast, which was enough to calm Jessie down and make her behave like a rational human being again. "So how do you think we'll capture Pikachu today?" she asked, sucking the last of her soda down through a straw.

"We're not after Pikachu anymore, remember?" James reminded her. "Last night you decided it was a lost cause, and we snuck aboard a ship and wound up here at the Vermilion Harbor."

Jessie blinked. "That's right!" She stood up, clenching her fist and propping one foot on her chair. "It's been how many years now? And we still don't have that little rat? It's time Team Rocket moved onto bigger and better pursuits!"

"Like figurin' out how ta get dinner, right?" Meowth said, still licking his plate.

"Like finding the best way to get back into the Boss's favor!" Jessie corrected him. "You _do_ want to be the top cat again, don't you? We _have_ to find something... it's not like he'd want that Pikachu anyway! We've seen more powerful pokémon!"

James rested his chin in the palm of his hand, slightly tuning out her passionate but repetitive speech and gazing out the window. Average people strolled by, chattering with one another, smiling, wearing normal clothes...

Something else caught his eye. "Look there, Jess," he said, pointing.

"Hmm?" She turned around, and saw what he was indicating just in time. "Oh! It's that mystery pokémon!" The blue-pigtailed girl, sketchbook boy, and two others at their sides walked past. "If they're here, we can snatch that little pokémon and be on our way!"

"An undiscovered pokémon's tons better than dat ol' Pikachu!" Meowth agreed. "Let's go get it!"

"Right. We need a plan first." Jessie sat back down and began to draw on a napkin.

James looked up at the window again. They'd already passed it, but he continued to stare.

~ * ~

"I was born and raised here," Midori was saying as he led his friends through the streets of downtown Vermilion. "My parents and sister moved to Hoenn not too long ago, but I decided to stick around... still following the Jade Road's path, you know."

"You have a sister?" Noelle asked. Somehow she wanted to know a lot about Midori. She got a feeling about him that he kept many secrets to himself.

"Yes, and you remind me a lot of her," he said with a smile. "Chiori's thirteen, and she can't wait to start her trainer's journey. She's been doing a lot of preparing."

"She's getting kind of a late start, isn't she?" Tracey said. "Or is ten too young to get a license in Hoenn?"

"No, it's ten there, too. She's just now expressing interest, that's all. She found out she wants this one particular pokémon, and she's so excited to get it. I know she'll be a great trainer." He smiled wistfully.

Noelle squeezed Snowflake gently, looking up at Midori. His gaze became faraway again, taking in the sights of his hometown.

"Um," Duplica spoke. "So just where is Yama's gym, anyway?"

"It's outside of town," Midori answered. "Actually, I think if we keep going in this direction, we'll end up at the beach. We--"

"The beach?" Duplica perked up. "Oooh! Can we stop there first?"

Midori blinked. "Aw, you don't want to go there. It's so crowded this time of year..."

"Well, duh! Everyone loves the beach in the middle of summer, Midori! C'mon, let's go for a swim!" She tugged on his hand. "What better way to start our vacation? And think of the pokémon! Seel and Marill! I bet yours like the water, too."

"Nyaasi doesn't," he nearly muttered. "I don't think it's such a good idea, Duplica..."

"I think he means let's go to Yama's place and invite him too," Noelle said helpfully. "You're a little too excited to get to that beach, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah." Duplica released Midori's hand and giggled apologetically. Noelle didn't miss Tracey's grateful look, either. She smiled at him.

"Anyway, follow me," Midori said, turning perpendicularly at the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for the traffic light to change. "We can plan a trip to the beach once we get to Yama's, I promise."

"This gym of his, I've never heard of it," Tracey said, catching up to Midori's side. "There's already an official one in Vermilion, isn't there?"

"Yes, there is. Yama's isn't legally approved by the Indigo League, so a badge from him won't grant you passage into the championship games." Midori began a lengthy talk on how Yama didn't agree with some of the League's rules on pokémon training, and how there was something crooked about the official Vermilion Gym in the first place. Tracey listened intently.

"Hey, Noelle," Duplica whispered, the two of them trailing behind the boys. "Do you think Yama's cute?"

"Oh..." Noelle rolled her eyes, giggling in spite of herself. "You're worse than I am!"

"It just proves I'm open-minded." Duplica grinned. "Besides, you're the one who likes Gary."

Noelle cheeks turned slightly pink. "Not _that_ much. I know a cute guy when I see one. I just have more taste than you do."

Duplica pretended to take offense. "Do you think Midori even likes swimming?"

"Huh? I don't know. Maybe not, he seemed pretty dead-set against the beach."

"He's so pale, I don't think he likes to spend time in the sun. Always wearing that trench coat, even in July. Now Tracey, on the other hand..." She eyed Tracey as she followed him.

"What about him?" Noelle asked, a little embarrassed that he was mentioned.

"Well, you tell me. You said you met him at the Cerulean Gym. The _water_ gym."

"Yeah, but he didn't get in the pool. And he wouldn't enter that talent show, either. I don't think he likes being exposed."

Duplica _tsk_ed. "He's from the Orange Islands, Noelle. Swimming is second nature there. He can't care about a little thing like having his clothes off -- everyone in the islands is like that."

Noelle furrowed her brow. She had thought at first that maybe he didn't know how to swim, but that couldn't be true...

"Ah, well." Duplica sighed. "Anyway, I hope having me around hasn't ruined anything for you two. Now Midori's joined us, too, and we're going to meet another friend..."

"What are you talking about?" Noelle asked automatically.

Duplica's smile grew slowly. "I know Cerulean to Sunny Town was a short distance... while you _were_ nice to invite me along, I hope I haven't spoiled anything... special."

Midori and Tracey stopped in their tracks as Duplica shrieked. "What's wrong?" Midori asked.

"Noelle's blushing! Iiieeee!" Duplica doubled over in delighted laughter. Noelle's small reaction to the mention of Gary's name was nothing compared to her visible redness now.

Tracey gave Duplica a perplexed look, but Midori rested his hands on his hips and spoke. "Duplica, stop pestering her."

"What?" she drawled. "I barely said anything!"

"I think I know you better than that." Midori gave her a hard look, but also a bemused smile.

"Excuse me, young trainers?" a voice interrupted them. Standing before Midori and Tracey was a man in a jacket and tie, holding a clipboard. He didn't seem quite old enough to be calling them "young" trainers. "I'm with the Vermilion City Tourist Association, so would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

"Tourist Association?" Midori repeated. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"There's probably a lot you haven't heard of, boy," he said. "Now, are you here for a gym challenge, perhaps? Have you checked your pokémon in at the nearest center?" He was looking at Snowflake with particular interest.

Noelle gasped. "It's you!" Her lips spread into a wide smile.

"What?" The tourist associate's voice raised several octaves. "What do you mean, it's me? We've never met before!"

But Noelle would recognize the man who had stolen her heart no matter what disguise he wore. Duplica and Midori waited expectantly for a revelation, but Tracey glowered at the not-quite stranger.

"I told you to pick a better disguise!" said a woman's voice from behind Noelle. She barely had time to react when Snowflake was plucked from her arms, and Jessie, forgoing the need for a costume, ran off, laughing. "Well, at least she was distracted enough! Let's go, James! Like we planned!"

"But Jessie--" he protested. "How did--"

"_Now,_ James! Do I have to do everything? Weezing, smokescreen!"

No one had noticed Weezing floating several feet above James's head. It belched thick, dark green gas, blinding everyone. James let out a kind of panicked squeal, and Jessie was heard laughing in the distance.

"Ditto!" Duplica called in between coughs. "Transform into a Pidgeot and use gust!" Within seconds, the smoke was mostly blown away, and Ditto, which was known to ride in Duplica's backpack, stood at their feet in the form of a large Pidegot, its wings raised.

"Snowflake!" Noelle cried, looking around frantically, but Jessie and James had long disappeared.

Tracey took off without warning. "This way!" he shouted. "I'm sure they'll try to escape by sea!"

"Go to the harbor and try to stop them, Ditto!" Duplica ordered. Ditto-Pidgeot darted past Tracey, sure to catch up with Team Rocket instantly. But by the time the four friends made it, they saw Duplica's pokémon circling the top of a submarine's periscope rapidly descending into the water. It hadn't been able to stop them.

Noelle yanked her one contained pokéball from her backpack and lobbed it into the sea as soon as she pressed the activation button. Seel bobbed in the water, looking a little disoriented. "Team Rocket has Snowflake!" Noelle said to him. "Hurry, you have to save her!" Seel dived under before she was finished.

"You too, Ditto!" Duplica said to the Pidgeot hovering before her. "Transform into a Tentacruel!" In a blinding white light, it stretched and became the giant jellyfish pokémon and submerged, its dark shadow on Seel's trail.

"Don't worry." Duplica clapped her hand on Noelle's shoulder. "We're sure to get them now."

But Noelle was close to tears. Was she that stupid? Fawning over someone she barely knew and had seen only once before? Allowing Snowflake to be captured, just like that?

"Noelle?" Duplica asked, looking concerned.

_Just what kind of member of the Jade Road am I?_ she thought, her tears spilling over.

"Ahh!" Tracey gasped, staring through binoculars. "They're a lot worse than I remember!" He handed the binoculars to Duplica, and she saw Ditto-Tentacruel bobbing on the water's surface, trapped in a net. "Ditto!" she cried.

"Go on, Marill!" Tracey let Marill loose in the water. "Get Ditto out of there!"

"Where's Seel?" Noelle asked.

Midori was watching through the binoculars now. "I can't tell. They're completely underwater."

Noelle sank to her knees, ignoring their painful contact with the hard dock. She buried her face in her hands and let loose her tears with a muffled sob.

_Noelle... forgive me..._

Her three friends stared at her when she gasped suddenly, in surprise. Tracey stepped closer, meaning to kneel beside her, when Midori held out his arm to stop him. "Wait," he said, watching Noelle intently.

"What?" Tracey asked. "What's wrong?"

"Don't disrupt her," Midori said quietly. Tracey eased back, his eyes still on her.

Noelle was afraid to move or speak, for fear of losing contact with the boy's voice she recognized as Seel's. _Can you hear me?_ she asked silently, in her mind. _Where are you?_

_I hear you,_ came Seel's reply, echoing in her head. _I managed to dodge that net, but without Ditto's help, I'm worthless. I can't break into their vessel._ Noelle could feel a dull pain in her forehead, a shared sense of repeated, failed headbutts. _I'm so sorry. I'll follow them... they can't stay in there forever._

_You don't know where they'll go!_ Noelle protested. _I can't let you go that far... I don't want to lose you, too._

_I won't fail you! I'll do anything I can possibly do, as long as it's for you!_

_Seel..._

_I just wish I was stronger... I wish I could be everything you want me to be..._ He paused, and Noelle felt another blow to her head. He'd attempted to headbutt the submarine again.

_Don't do that! You'll get seriously hurt!_ Noelle chided.

_I'm sorry... I don't know what else to--_ His voice cut off from her mind, like a radio being turned off. She became aware of her own surroundings once more, her wet hands to her face, the dock under her knees. She lifted her head, wiping her palms on her pants, then her cheeks with the back of one hand.

Realizing the telepathic conversation had ended, Midori held the binoculars to his eyes once more. "I think I see something," he said, leaning forward. "Just barely, on the horizon."

"What is it?" Tracey asked, shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun and squinting. He didn't see a thing.

"I can't tell... just some shape -- but it's gone now. I think it went underwater."

"Oh, Seel," Noelle whispered as Duplica helped her stand.

They were all silent, staring at the boundless sea. The only thing they saw was faraway splashing as Marill tried to pull the net from Ditto-Tentacruel. Then there was a light. It was a steady ray firing from below the water's surface, aiming for the sky. A few seconds later, a tiny shape emerged, bobbing in the water.

"What...?" Midori whispered. It was approaching -- or rather, being pushed. A pause, and Ditto-Tentacruel was released. It joined the effort in nudging the prize forward: Team Rocket's submarine, now completely encased in ice.

"Oh!" Noelle gasped, her hand covering her mouth. She was just forming the thought that Seel must have learned ice beam when she identified something else, the real originator of the ice attack: a Lapras, nudging the submarine along with Ditto-Tentacruel's help.

Seel and Marill swam along beside the ice-covered sub. As the pokémon party reached the dock, Marill greeted Tracey happily, as though she'd just been for a lovely swim. Ditto-Tentacruel pulled itself halfway up onto the dock and returned to its pink blob state without a prompt from Duplica. Seel gave Noelle a very tired but relieved look. She got to her knees again and held out her hand, stroking his sore head and horn gently before returning him to his pokéball.

"Think Ditto can handle one more transformation in order to get into the sub here?" Midori asked Duplica.

Duplica nodded. "One step ahead of you, Midori dear. Ditto, feel like drying off as a fire-type? How about a Growlithe?"

"Dittoo," agreed her pokémon, glowing white and stretching into a Growlithe's shape. Duplica picked it up and held it out to the submarine, at which it directed a small fire spin attack, melting the ice just around the hatch enough so Midori could open it. "Cold enough in there for you?" he asked the huddle that was Team Rocket.

"Shut up, you!" Jessie snapped, shivering.

"Hand over the pokémon," Midori said, smirking, "or I'll have three Rocketcicles in my grasp as well."

"No way!" Meowth argued. "Ya want it, ya gotta give us something in exchange! Dat's how Team Rocket bargains!" He pushed Snowflake behind his back, already inches away from the wall.

Midori took a breath, gripped the edge of the hatch, and bent down even more. "That's not how _I_ bargain," he said. "Do you want to rethink that?" He grinned darkly.

"Meowth, do what he says!" James pleaded. "I don't like that look in his eyes!" He clenched his shut, turning his head.

"Yeah..." Meowth said shakily. "He's even scarier than Jessie!"

"Hey!" Jessie shrieked. "What kind of men are you?"

"Do you want to 'bargain' with me?" Midori asked her pointedly, his voice still different than his usual tone.

Jessie stared at him defiantly for about two seconds before her resolve crumbled, before Midori's visible power overtook her at last. "Here, take it!" she said hastily, snatching Snowflake from behind Meowth and holding her out to him.

"Many thanks." Midori flashed her another evil smile, closing the hatch and regaining his balance on the dock again. He met the eyes of Lapras, who aimed another ice beam at the vessel, resealing the ice and also launching it several feet away. It splashed down loudly and began to drift away. Midori watched, satisfied, and turned to his friends wearing his familiar smile, all traces of darkness gone.

"Your Snowflake, milady," he said, handing the little pokémon to Noelle with flourish. Snowflake gave many grateful "churu"s as she returned to the safety of Noelle's arms. But Noelle, while she was very happy to have her pokémon back safely, also stared at the Lapras. Why had a Lapras, of all things, come to save the day?

Surely everyone wondered the same, but no one spoke. Noelle exchanged looks with each of her friends, none of them able to provide an answer. Finally, she said to Lapras, "Thank you for helping rescue my Snowflake. I don't know how you knew about the situation, but thank you." She bowed respectfully.

_Why, Seel told me, of course,_ a clear and keen woman's voice answered in her mind.

"Oh!" Noelle exclaimed, bolting upright. It was to her utter shock that she saw something in the water _besides_ Lapras: the transparent form of a woman, floating above her. And not just any woman -- regal in bearing, long and straight silver hair, powder-blue skin. She was the stranger who had spoken to Noelle in her dreams.

_It's true,_ she thought, more to herself. _Everything Midori told me is true..._

_Naturally,_ said Lapras back. Her humanlike form gave Noelle a patient smile.

_I... I don't know what to say. I didn't know my power let me dream about someone I would meet in the future..._

_That was more of an effort on my part, not yours._ As Noelle remained silent, staring, Lapras spoke again. _Don't you want to use a pokéball?_

_What? I couldn't think of capturing you like that._

_But I'm choosing to come with you. Haven't you figured out the pattern by now?_ There was warm amusement in her voice.

"Is everything okay, Noelle?" Tracey broke the silence among the four humans.

Noelle turned to him with a most overwhelmed look. "Lapras wants to come with me," she said softly. "Just like Seel did, and like Snowflake, attaching herself to me... why? Why are pokémon choosing me?"

"Do you have to ask?" Midori replied.

She whipped around to face him. "But that's... it doesn't seem right..."

"I know," Midori agreed. "But it's Lapras's decision."

She turned to the new pokémon again, who gave her a nod. Noelle handed Snowflake to Tracey, dug through her backpack, and pulled out an empty pokéball. "Okay..." she said a little reluctantly, and threw it. Lapras watched serenely as it paused above her head, engulfed her in its light, and shut with her transformed body inside. It landed with a splash, and Marill, still bobbing in the water, picked it up and held it out to Noelle with a pleased "mar-rill!"

"Thank you, Marill." Noelle knelt to take the ball, standing up with weak knees, staring at it without a word.

"Churu?" Snowflake asked from Tracey's arms.

Noelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Let's stop by the pokémon center," she said.

"Good idea." Tracey gave Snowflake back after Noelle placed Lapras's ball next to Seel's in her bag's front pocket. She hugged Snowflake tightly. It was only early afternoon, and already she was exhausted.

~ * ~

"Keep pushing!" Jessie repeated as she, James, and Meowth put all their strength trying to open the iced-over hatch.

"It's no use, Jess," James said, his scrawny arms starting to give way. "That thing's frozen solid. We might as well wait until it melts."

"An' starve ta death? No thanks!" Meowth snapped.

"Well, it has been a long time," James said. "Feels like a couple of days." His stomach rumbled.

"Then it should be easy!" In a finale of energy, Jessie slammed against the hatch, and it cracked open. She laughed with amazement and stuck her head out, breathing in the fresh evening air. "Aha, and we've been beached, even! Finally, land!" She jumped out and pounced the ground, kissing it.

Meowth bounded out second, and James followed slowly, stretching. Secretly he was glad that they'd relinquished the pokémon. That sweet blue-haired girl needed it more than stupid Giovanni, anyway. Honestly, what would the Boss do with a baby pokémon, even if it was an undiscovered type? Jessie's schemes were really outlandish anymore.

"Now if we can only get some food..." Meowth mused, staring at the sea with an expression that he didn't want anything to do with it, even if fish were involved, for the rest of his life.

"Oh, look!" Jessie pointed. Already a familiar red Jeep was waiting for them not too far away. Jessie and Meowth mad a made dash for it.

James smiled, grateful his appetite would be rescued this night. It got so hard, living in fear of where your next meal was coming from... so hard, when there were so many other things he could be pursuing.... 


	9. The Ancient Order? Midori's Reality!

Mmm, plot points. Mmmm, Midori backstory. Mmmmm, advancement in Noelle/Tracey cuteness. ^_^v  
~Pika-Zukin

**The Ancient Order? Midori's Reality!**

"And the way you handled Team Rocket!" Duplica gushed from Midori's side. "You didn't do anything but talk to them, and they handed over Snowflake without a fight! You're awesome!" She squeezed his forearm and sighed. The four of them were just leaving the Vermilion pokémon center, once again setting off for Midori's friend Yama's gym.

"Now, now, I barely did anything," Midori said lightly with a wave of his free hand. "I just command great respect, that's all."

"No way," Duplica said. "You did something... magic." She wiggled her fingers. "Because of your Jade Road powers. Isn't that right, Noelle?"

Noelle was pacing behind them alongside Tracey, her eyes downcast, her arms holding Snowflake securely. She had the faraway gaze of someone in deep thought. "Noelle?" Duplica said again. She, Midori, and Tracey stopped in their tracks, and Noelle bumped into Midori's back lightly. "Oh... sorry," she said. "What is it?"

"Are you okay?" Tracey asked automatically.

"Yeah... yeah," she replied vaguely. "I'm fine, just... thinking about Lapras."

Her friends continued to look at her with a lack of words. "It's... bizarre," she went on. "Seel swam up to me right away in Professor Holly's lab. Snowflake attached herself to me as soon as I picked her up. Lapras showed up and practically _asked_ me to use a pokéball. I haven't caught any pokémon. They've just started following _me_."

"They'll do that," Midori said with a knowing smile.

"But why?"

Midori smiled again without an answer, facing forward once more. "Come, my friends. Yama is waiting for us." He started walking, and Duplica, still attached to his arm, was dragged along.

Noelle stayed rooted to the spot, staring incredulously after Midori. It was the first time Tracey had seen her look truly annoyed, on the verge of anger. He reached out a hand to her, but she overlooked it, taking off behind Midori and Duplica.

They left downtown, passing through a residential area. "This must be a better part of the city," Tracey remarked, studying the condition of the houses. "I thought you said there are a few unsavory neighborhoods in Vermilion."

"Indeed," Midori said quietly. "That's why I'm glad..." He deliberately left his thought unfinished. Tracey and Noelle exchanged looks this time, Noelle appearing suitably aggravated. Why was Midori being so cryptic?

"There it is," he said after more walking, gesturing ahead to a large building on a hill. A winding walkway led to the entrance. "The Silver Stone gym. A badge from there won't gain you a place in the Indigo League competition, but it can represent much more."

"Do you have one?" Duplica asked.

"Naturally." Midori held open the front of his black trench coat. Pinned to the inner lining, next to his own Jade Road badge, was another flat, circular one, all silver with an etching of mountain peaks in the center.

They approached, and Midori rang the doorbell. There was an extensive pause as they waited for an answer, but finally the door opened. Duplica was the only one who gasped aloud, but her sound was obscured by Midori's exclamation of "Sir Yama!" as he held open his arms.

"Yes, of course! Midori!" Yama declared just as boisterously, sweeping his friend into an embrace. At six feet, Midori stood an impressive height, but Yama was even taller, his chest much broader. It was hard to believe he was Midori's age, barely an adult.

"And who have we here?" he asked, releasing Midori and looking at his companions, grinning. He had a clear, white smile, lighting up his honest blue eyes.

"Here we have Tracey, Duplica, and Noelle." Midori indicated each one in turn. Noelle nodded politely and Tracey waved. But Duplica stood with her mouth open awkwardly. Noelle noticed this and nudged her, and she managed a soft "hi."

"What's this now?" Yama bent down to study Snowflake. She blinked once and puckered her lips at him, which made him laugh. Noelle offered her forward, impressed that his hands were about the same size as Snowflake's body.

"Are you all hungry? I can start lunch," Yama offered.

"Excellent suggestion!" Midori decided. "What say you three?"

All were a little puzzled by their friend's change in behavior and language. "We don't want to be a bother," Tracey spoke up. "We can just go have lunch in town..."

"Nonsense!" Yama scoffed, dangling his fingers in front of Snowflake's face. She reached her stubby arms out. "I invited you all beforehand! It would be my pleasure! Now come inside!"

"The first floor's the gym area, of course," he said as they walked through the vast entryway, the size of a theater lobby. "It's behind those doors, actually. This is just the main hall. Upstairs is the kitchen and the real house." They followed him up a curving marble staircase, lined with paintings that were obviously of Yama's relatives. Noelle glanced around uneasily; once again she found herself in a mansion, somewhere she never wanted to be.

"Is this gym in your family?" Tracey asked conversationally.

"It is, yes. My parents are both breeders, though, and they work outside of town. But my ancestors have been praised gym leaders. Just not what the Indigo League looks for." He sighed.

"I had no idea there was something bad about the League until Midori mentioned it," Tracey said.

"That's what they want you to think, you know. I can't prove it, but... sometimes I think Indigo's really being controlled by some outside force."

Tracey raised an eyebrow at Midori, who nodded. "Sometimes," the older boy echoed.

"And here we are!" Yama turned the conversation around as they entered a modest-sized dining room. "I shall be there." He pointed to the adjoining kitchen. "You're free to leave your belongings in the guest bedrooms -- you'll have to split into pairs, though. You're welcome to stay as long as you like... Midori tells me you're off to Professor Oak's lab after this." He handed Snowflake back to Noelle, smiling.

Tracey nodded. "Is it all right if I call him? I haven't in... wow, a couple of weeks, I think..."

"Of course. Midori knows where the phone is, he'll show you."

Noelle and Duplica sought out one of the guest bedrooms. "Ohmygod," Duplica whispered, plopping down on one of the two beds. "And all this time I thought Midori was the perfect specimen."

Noelle chuckled. "You're hopeless."

"Aren't you looking!?" Duplica sprang upright, facing her friend, who was gazing out the window. Her mischievous smile faded. "What's wrong? You've been so quiet since we left the pokémon center... since before that, even."

Noelle hugged Snowflake close. "I don't understand what's happening," she answered sullenly.

"About Lapras?"

Noelle nodded. "Midori won't tell me anything. Who gives away an exclusive badge but refuses to explain what it's about?"

"Maybe he doesn't know everything?" Duplica hazarded a guess.

"He knows more than he's letting on. I can tell." She smoothed Snowflake's hair idly. "I just wish I knew why."

"Vacation?" Professor Oak questioned from the video phone. "You're making me jealous."

"I'll come back right away if you need me!" Tracey blurted out by way of apology. "It was Midori's idea--"

Midori, standing closeby, waved at the screen. "Yo."

"But it's not like any of us have worked overly hard or anything," Tracey finished. "If you--"

Professor Oak was laughing. "Stop worrying so much! Of course you earned a rest! All that travelling... it can wear you out, more than you know."

Tracey thought of how tired Noelle seemed lately. "How's Noelle doing?" the professor asked, as if reading his mind.

"She's good." Tracey felt warm, speaking of her as if she was a familiar topic. "She just got another pokémon... a Lapras. I think she's a little shocked."

"A Lapras, hmm? Professor Holly will want to know."

"I'm still studying Snowflake every chance I get," Tracey went on. "I... I think I have an idea, actually."

"Oh?" Professor Oak flipped through some papers on the desk in front of him. "You know what? I have another errand for you." He tossed aside the folder. "Can you stop by my office at the Pokémon Technical Institute? It's just a few miles north of Vermilion. I think that's where I left my field guide to poison-types -- I have to do something about this Muk." He fanned the air in front of his nose. "I'd buy another guide, but I made several notes in that one over the years. Can't replace those."

"You have an office at PokéTech?" Midori asked, amazed.

"There and a few other places," Oak said without modesty. "Would you mind going to check for me, since you're so near? Just tell someone I sent you and have them let you in my office, and that they can call me if they have any questions."

"Of course I'll go!" Tracey agreed. "I'm glad to know I'm... that I'm useful even when I'm not there."

"Now, now." Oak smiled, trying to lift Tracey's spirits. "Hmm... come to think of it, I'm about due for a vacation myself. I always take one in the summer."

"Where are you thinking of going this year?"

Oak grinned and held up a pamphlet. "Well, this place just opened last month. It sounds really nice."

Tracey and Midori squinted at the screen. "Flareon Springs Resort?" Midori read from the flyer.

"Nothing more relaxing than a hot spring. Oh!" He read the inside. "It's close to Vermilion City, also... Tracey, want another errand on top of PokéTech?"

"Eh?" Tracey was starting to get concerned. The professor seemed to be getting in one of his moods.

Oak smiled plotfully. "Visit Flareon Springs and give me a report. I want to know if it'll be worth my time. Take your friends, too, all on me. Maybe I'll start a tab there." He cackled as if he'd said the funniest thing.

"You want me to _what!?_" A hot springs resort? With the girls?

"That's so generous of you, Professor," Midori said, nudging Tracey, who turned bright red. "I won't impose, myself. I already decided I'd stay here while they left for Pallet Town."

"Fine, fine, but if you change your mind..." Oak seemed greatly amused at Tracey's silence. "I'll let you get back to lunch. Enjoy your rest."

Midori was grinning like the professor as Tracey hung up. "He's very generous."

"It's not funny," Tracey mumbled.

They rejoined Duplica and Noelle in the dining room, where they found the girls surrounded by many pokémon. "Ah yes," Midori said. "Yama's housemates."

Duplica squealed with delight as her Ditto interacted with another Ditto. "They're mimicking one another!"

"You can tell?" Noelle smiled as she scratched a Rattata behind the ear. It bounded away to play with another.

"Of course! Can't you?"

"Are these all Yama's battling pokémon?" Tracey asked.

"Some of them." Midori knelt down and held his hand out to a Pikachu. "I didn't see this one last time." The Pikachu approached him, letting him pet it.

"They're all... unevolved."

"That's right." Yama came into the dining room, carrying a huge platter of five sandwiches, each twelve inches long as though they were made in a professional deli. "Part of my strategy is to prove the power of pre-evolved pokémon." At his feet was a Vulpix with a particularly shiny coat.

"Wow, that's awesome!" Duplica gushed. "You're the coolest gym leader, Yama." She smiled up at him.

He scratched the back of his head, ruffling his dark brown hair and laughing with embarrassment. Noelle smiled in spite of herself, glancing down when she felt eyes staring at her. An Eevee sat by her feet. "Awww..." She couldn't help it. She bent forward to pet its brown fur. Yama went to bring out the rest of lunch, which included a thick vegetable soup to go with their sandwiches, and the promise of a rich dessert.

"You outshine yourself yet again," Midori praised him as he tore into his sandwich.

"This? No, I threw all this together in no time, since you only just arrived. You have no idea what I'm planning for dinner." Yama grinned.

"Oh, no, this huge lunch plus dessert will have me completely full all night," Duplica said. "You really know how to treat your guests." She batted her eyelashes.

No one could resist sharing bites of food with the lingering pokémon, and let their own out to meet the lot. Midori released his for the first time around his new companions, and they marveled at his strange group: a Mankey, which was thankfully subdued by table scraps, a Porygon, and a demure little Meowth who never left Midori's side.

"You forgot someone," Yama noted. Midori glanced downward once; the pokéball around his neck remained untouched.

"I don't know that she'd be comfortable around so many," he said.

"Don't be too overprotective, now." There was an undertone to Yama's voice. Midori flashed him a warning look that Noelle did not miss.

Tracey stared at the Meowth on the feet. "It's type-based," he said randomly. He was met with puzzled looks. "The... thing." He made a badge-sized circle shape with his thumb and forefinger, unsure if he was allowed to speak its name.

"Midori's badge thing, you mean?" Yama asked, humored. "I know of the Road, fear not. I see you do too."

"It's based on pokémon type, isn't it?" Tracey continued. "Or... no, maybe not."

"What?" Noelle encouraged him, intrigued.

"I thought it was. Seel and Lapras are both water- and ice-types. Snowflake might be, too. And you said they all _came_ to you, like they chose you. But Midori's pokémon don't follow a pattern -- two normal and one fighting. And whatever's in that ball. It was just a guess."

"No, you're right," Midori said quietly. "Good deduction."

Noelle took a deep breath as she slipped some food to the Eevee that hadn't left her side. "Well, that's news," she said as she sat back up. "Is there a reason you didn't tell me the other day?"

"What?" Midori was obviously shocked at her accusing tone.

"The only thing you said was that I'm supposed to wait," Noelle said coolly. "Wait for what? Why haven't you told me anything? Do you not trust me? Am I too young, or too naïve?"

"No, of course not! I just... it's just better to--"

"What makes you think you know what's best for me?" Noelle exploded.

Midori caught his breath, his green eyes wide and distant. All was silent, and Noelle wondered if she spoke out of turn. But really, who was Midori to act so great? His arrogant mysteriousness was starting to get on her nerves.

"I'll never learn," he uttered. "Forgive me." He pushed back his chair and walked out of the room. His Meowth trotted after him.

Noelle's insides twisted with guilt. She looked to Yama for some kind of assurance.

"It's not the first time he's heard something like that," Yama said.

Noelle remembered something Midori had said, and felt her thought patterns click together. _"How many others are there now?"_ she'd asked, to which he replied, _"Two. Myself, and an old friend."_

She raced out of the dining room, down the elegant staircase and out the door. Midori sat on the outside stairway, holding his pokéball tightly. His Meowth was at his side still.

"I'm sorry," Noelle whispered. "I'm not mad at you."

"It's okay. I should know better. Fifteen isn't that young. And you're a very smart girl."

Noelle sat beside him, watching as a breeze played through his long red hair. "Your old friend... did he not take it well? Is that why he's not here in your hometown?"

"She. She ran away not long after I gave her a badge. She was fifteen."

Noelle swallowed. She knew without asking that this nameless girl had fired the exact same accusations at a younger Midori.

"Not a day goes by that I don't miss her," he went on. "Not a day goes by that I don't blame myself. Her birthday was just a couple of weeks ago. Once again I didn't get to spend it with her."

"Can't you look for her?"

He was silent, staring ahead. "I promised I wouldn't."

Noelle tilted her head, wishing he would look at her.

"She promised she'd come back here... when she was strong enough."

"What happened?"

He closed his eyes. "Never mind," Noelle said. "I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me."

"Tracey's right," Midori said automatically. "It's type-based. You and I... and she... are elementals. We are humans who embody a type of pokémon. Like water and ice."

Noelle blinked. "What?" she asked in disbelief.

"That is the heart of the Jade Road. It's ancient, and it hasn't been practiced in a thousand years."

She held her breath.

"That's why you can understand Seel's speech and thoughts. Why Lapras appeared out of nowhere. Snowflake is probably of either ice or water, too. But it's not restrictive." He patted his Meowth's head. "Of course, I caught my three the normal way... but they're not my influence."

"It's nice to include other types of pokémon," Noelle said, trying to be encouraging.

"But it's wrong to ignore my destiny." He slipped his pokéball necklace over his head, the cord pulling through his hair. "I blamed myself and my element for the past, and since then I've been trying to hide from it. I shouldn't lie to you. Or to the one who chose me all those years ago." He activated the ball, and a red beam materialized on the stair below their feet. As it faded, it revealed a huddled-up pokémon with dark grey fur. Magenta ears twitched, and it raised its head to stare at Midori with wide golden eyes.

"This is Dengon," he said. "She's a Sneasel. A dark-type. And an ice-type, now that I recall. How about that?"

"Oh," Noelle whispered, holding out her hand. Dengon sniffed her fingers, giving her a questioning look.

"She was my first pokémon," Midori said. "She wandered all the way here from Johto... no one knew what she was. I didn't realize what was happening then, a mystery pokémon sought me out and I could hear her speaking to me in my head. Not until I..." He trailed off.

"Until you what?" Noelle asked. Dengon made a soft, sad noise.

Midori stared at the clear sky above. "I'll tell you now, so maybe you can be aware of it when the time comes, unlike we were back then. Part of the bond with your type of pokémon enables you to use the same powers as they."

"What?" Again Noelle had a hard time believing Midori. No wonder he'd been reluctant to tell her.

"I became a vessel for the darkness. I am all that dark-type pokémon represent in the world. It is my gift... and my curse."

"A... vessel?" Noelle stared at him. This was the power of the Jade Road? Using magical abilities like pokémon?

"Now, if you can imagine what a human wielder of dark-type attacks is capable of, maybe you can imagine why I scared her away," Midori said, speaking of his old friend again. "Dengon blames herself. She thinks it wouldn't have happened if she had never come to me. But it's not her fault." He stroked his Sneasel's fur. "It was bound to happen one way or another."

"Midori..." Noelle said softly. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize. Neither of us can change the past."

She leaned forward and hugged him suddenly. "Thank you for telling me so much. I understand why you didn't want to."

The older boy paused awkwardly, sliding his arms around her back.

"I promise I won't be afraid," Noelle said into his shoulder. "Not when I have you to guide me."

Midori made a sound, like he wanted to speak, but chose not to, holding her tighter.

They went back upstairs together, where Yama, Tracey, and Duplica were finishing up their lunch. Midori smiled like his normal self as best as he could, resuming his seat and picking up his spoon as if nothing had happened. Noelle met Tracey's and Duplica's eyes, both of them looking very curious.

"All right now?" Yama asked cautiously. Midori nodded. "Forgive our interruption," he said.

"Of course. And you two are just in time for dessert."

"We couldn't," Noelle said. "I'm not even halfway done with my sandwich yet."

"Then you'll be eager to finish." With the excitement of a boy on Christmas morning, Yama raced to the kitchen and brought out a large glass plate, on which sat an elegant-looking cake. "Tiramisu," he said proudly, setting it down. "Goes wonderfully with coffee." He glanced sideways at Midori.

"Yes, excellent!" Midori had resumed his jovial tone, eager for coffee.

"I'll start some, and maybe you and Noelle will be finished by then."

"Guess what?" Duplica said excitedly, as if she couldn't wait to say. "Yama says we can go to the beach tomorrow!"

Midori shot his childhood friend a particularly accusatory look. Yama blinked, trying to appear innocent. "I think it's just what we need," he explained. "Some of us, anyway." He couldn't fight his amused smile.

~ * ~

In a certain unearthly place, visible only to the practiced mind, approachable with an open heart and perfect trust, two beings who appeared as a young boy and a little girl were speaking.

"Have you been waiting for me?" a third entity asked, approaching. She was older, a grown woman with long, straight, dark blue hair.

Everything she said would always seem to have double meanings. "Will Noelle be all right?" Seel asked with worry in his voice. "She's been... emotional lately."

"She's just a little stressed," Lapras said calmly. "Lots of new things she never expected are happening to her at once: first running away from her home, living on the road, then Midori telling her about who she is..."

"She's taking it well, isn't she?" Snowflake questioned. "She doesn't seem so upset now that Midori's explained things..."

Lapras nodded, closing her eyes and lifting her head in concentration. "Yes, I think she'll be back to normal. She and Duplica are having some girl talk before they sleep."

Snowflake giggled, but Seel looked confused. "What does that mean?"

Lapras smiled with bemusement at him. "Don't laugh at me!" Seel protested in his defense. "What are they talking about?"

"Will she make contact with us soon?" Snowflake asked directly.

"I don't know," Lapras answered. "When she's ready, I suppose she will... it does take a great deal of mental strength to speak to us in this form."

"Oh..." Seel whispered, more to himself than to the other two. "Then I hope she can take some mental strength from me."

~ * ~

"I hardly think this is what I need," Midori mumbled, resting his chin on his arms folded over raised knees. He looked truly out of place at the beach in his trench coat and sunglasses, huddled under the shade of a large umbrella.

"At least I'm not alone," Tracey said to him from under his own umbrella. He, too, was fully clothed, though not as dramatically as Midori. The red-haired boy was obviously avoiding sunburn, susceptible as his pale skin was to it.

"Why in the world are you avoiding a frolic?" Midori asked him.

Tracey glanced at Yama, Duplica, and Noelle, who were doing their best to participate in a game of volleyball with some other people. "Can you honestly see me doing something like that?" he replied darkly.

"Well, why not? What's the harm in it?"

"I don't think you of all people should be asking something like that."

Midori smirked. "Ah, well. It is nice to have company back here."

Tracey's heart sank into his stomach as Noelle bounded toward the two of them, radiant in her revealing black one-piece suit. "Are you sure one of you won't join us?" she pleaded cutely. "I think we need to practice on our own, and it would _really_ help to have a fourth person."

"We think you're doing fine already," Midori told her with a knowing smile.

She grinned at him, wrinkling her nose. "Are you sure, Tracey?" she asked him directly. "It's not the same without you."

The pounding in his chest rang in his ears. "You don't want me out there," he said. "I'd be an eyesore."

"What?" Noelle sounded affronted. "You are so not! Don't ever say things like that again!"

Tracey averted his eyes, feeling unworthy to gaze upon her. Noelle wouldn't have that, though -- she dropped to her knees on the blanket right in front of him. "Is that why you wouldn't go swimming at the Cerulean gym? Or why you didn't enter the talent show with me? Do you think you'd look bad?"

"I don't think, I know so," Tracey mumbled, still looking away. Why did she have to make a scene like this? Why in front of Midori?

"Tracey..." Noelle said. To his complete shock she crawled closer, leaning in to whisper to him. His entire body went numb, a contrast to his thrashing heart, as he felt her breath brush his ear. "I think you're attractive," she said.

"What?" His voice caught in his throat. She backed away, smiling at him as she stood up. She waved at him and Midori both and bounded away, rejoining Yama and Duplica.

"You shouldn't deny a fair lady's request," Midori mused.

Tracey touched his fingers to the ear in which she had spoken, staring after her. She was talking to a giggling Duplica, cute in her cotton-candy-pink two-piece but not nearly as beautiful as Noelle. "She's mocking me," he said bitterly, averting his eyes. "Duplica probably told her to come over here."

Midori shook his head. "Oh, Tracey... do you assume the worst of everything?"

"Better than being all ignorantly optimistic, like I used to be."

Midori smiled sadly. "I didn't see any mockery. She wants your company. She likes you."

"She'll stop soon enough. We'll get to Pallet Town, I'll stay, she'll continue on her journey and forget she ever knew me. Just like my last so-called friends."

"Not if you tell her how you feel first."

He didn't feel up to arguing with Midori over why that wouldn't work, either. He stared blankly at the sand, marveling in the irony of the public's chatter and laughter. If Noelle truly wasn't making fun of him, why had she said such a thing unprovoked? What caused her sudden change in mood from the day before?

"I saw you over there!" Duplica said eagerly as Noelle rejoined her. "What did you say to Tracey? You were so close to him!"

"Nothing," Noelle said lightly, smiling and blushing.

"Whaaaat?" Duplica grabbed her arm. "Tell me! Did you mention anything we talked about last night?"

Noelle smiled more, reflecting on their conversation, which took place in their own guest room before they fell asleep. _"What happened with Midori?" Duplica asked._

"He told me a little about the other member of the Jade Road," Noelle answered truthfully. "I still don't know a lot, but something happened between her and Midori, and she ran away."

"Poor guy... I thought he seemed sad. Did you... console him?" There was suggestiveness in her voice, as usual.

"No! You really are awful!" Despite her chastising, Noelle started giggling.

"No worse than you! I saw the way you swooned over both Gary and James!"

"Not really. I just thought they were cute at first... but Gary's got some serious issues. James, too... always doing whatever Jessie tells him. Maybe they're already in a relationship."

"I dunno... well, that sucks. Neither of them are really dream guys, huh? And you're not that interested in Midori? He has such beautiful hair... among other things."

Noelle laughed. "Yes, I'll give you that. Midori is very hot. But he's a lot more. You've got to stop objectifying guys."

Duplica gasped, pretending to be insulted. "So where does that leave Tracey?" she asked deviously.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, now that you're so deep about your choice in men, think about it. Tracey's nice, smart, artistic, sweet... and, just so I can say it, he's adorable. I know you agree with me."

"Yeah, I do..."

"And I've seen how you two get along. It's sickeningly cute. You just say _these things and it's like you've known each other forever."_

"Nuh uh." Noelle turned away, hiding a huge grin. Sure, Tracey was her best friend... but why did she feel so uplifted at Duplica's observations?

She couldn't hide from Duplica's keen romance eye. "Aww! I hit on it, didn't I? Why are you wasting your time even thinking about James and Gary? You should tell Tracey just what you think of him."

"I couldn't."

"What? Why?"

"Because in about a week or so, we'll be in Pallet Town. He lives and works there with Professor Oak, and I don't think I'd want to stay. Actually, I have no idea what I'm going to do. I don't want to think about it."

"That's no reason not to tell him! Don't you think he'd want to hear it?"

Duplica squealed. "This is so cute I can't stand it! I'm inspired now, let's go play with Yama."

Noelle's pale blue eyes widened to twice their original size. "Volleyball, silly!" Duplica added. "What do you take me for, anyway?" She giggled and pulled Noelle after her. The ice-type trainer was doing her best not to look over her shoulder, not to make it obvious she wanted to see Tracey again. 


	10. Hot Spring! Time of True Feelings!

Hee, I uploaded the previous chapter 9 months ago. FLAKY AM I.  
P-Z

**Hot Spring! Time of True Feelings!**

"We'll be back tonight, don't worry!" Duplica called as she, Tracey, and Noelle descended the steps of Yama's gym.

"No worrying to be had if you take up Professor Oak's other suggestion!" Midori replied, waving with Yama from the door. "Stay out as late as you want! We don't mind!"

"What other suggestion?" Noelle asked. Tracey hunched up his shoulders and blushed crimson.

"Huh?" Duplica stopped, staring over her shoulder at something she'd noticed. "There's an Eevee following us."

The fluffy brown pokémon bounded down the stairs. "Aww..." Noelle knelt down to welcome it. "We won't be gone long," she told it. "And you have Snowflake and Seel to keep you company, right?"

The Eevee nuzzled her hand, looking up as Yama called for it. Reluctantly, it went back to its caretaker. "Pokémon do love you, huh?" Duplica asked her.

"Guess so." Noelle smiled a little sadly, waving at Eevee. "So what's Professor Oak's other suggestion, Tracey?"

"That I should, um... look around PokéTech's library," Tracey said. "Maybe there's something about Snowflake's species, you know?"

"Midori said we should stay at a school library as late as we want?" Duplica asked. "That doesn't sound like much fun."

"It is to us pokémon researchers," Tracey replied.

"Huh. Good thing I packed some magazines, then."

Noelle giggled.

They took a bus to the university, located just outside of the city. Old and renowned, private and exclusive, the Pokémon Technical Institute seemed very out of place next to the modern, industrial city of Vermilion. Tracey read the directions he'd written down from Professor Oak, and soon they entered a welcomingly air-conditioned building, grateful that the ancient establishment had kept up with modern temperature control.

"Will it take very long to find this thing?" Duplica asked.

"I don't think so," said Tracey. "I just wonder how we're going to get in his office. I doubt he left it unlocked."

"Can I help you three?" came a bored-sounding voice from the right. There was a room, divided from the lobby by a counter. A teenage girl stared at a computer screen, yet she was the one who had obviously spoken, as she was the only person in sight.

"We're looking for Professor Oak's office," Tracey said.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Well, sort of. He's not here, but he sent me to get something from his office. I'm his lab assistant."

She looked up from the monitor for the first time, raising a brown eyebrow in mild disbelief. "Call him if you want," Tracey said. "He'll tell you himself."

The girl scooted her wheeled chair from the computer to the video phone on the other end of the desk. "You're lucky it's summer term," she said. "Any other time, you wouldn't be able to have me do this for you." She held the receiver in one hand, her other paused above the keypad. Tracey told her the professor's number.

She was smirking now. "Personally, I'd have no problem letting you go through. But it's my job. You understand."

Tracey nodded, though he seemed nervous by her teasing.

"Hello?" they heard Oak's faint voice from the receiver.

"Professor Oak? This is Faye Holly, and I'm in charge of the faculty offices at the Pokémon Technical Institute," the girl said in a businesslike manner. "I've got a young man here who claims to be your assistant and wants to enter your office." She paused as he spoke. "Mmm-hmm," she answered, beckoning Tracey to lean over the counter in view of the video phone.

Professor Oak's face lit up as he saw his assistant. Tracey waved. "Glad to see he's made it," the professor said, his voice audible through the receiver pressed to Faye's ear. "Is he with his friends? That's good. Here, let me give you my office's access code."

Tracey stepped back from the counter as Faye hung up. She rose from her seat, stretching as if she hadn't gotten up in awhile. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "Follow me." She came out to the lobby and led them to an elevator.

Everyone was quiet on the ride up and on the walk through the hallway. Faye stopped at an office and punched a code on the numbered lock above the handle. The lock clicked, and she opened the door. "Here you are."

Tracey went inside, but Noelle and Duplica hung back in the hall with Faye. Duplica leaned against the wall and fished a magazine from her backpack. "Um," Noelle spoke up awkwardly. "Did you say your last name is Holly?" she asked Faye.

The student nodded. "By any chance, are you related to Professor Holly?" Noelle asked.

Faye beamed at her, the first honest smile she'd shown. "She's my sister," she replied. "So you know of her research? That's great!"

"I sure do! She gave me my Seel. She's so nice!"

Faye stared at her, stunned. "You must be the one she told me about. Noelle, right?"

"She told you about me?" Noelle clapped her hands together. "I can't believe it!"

Duplica looked up from her magazine. "Are you about to be a local legend like I am?" she asked with a grin.

"Noelle, listen," Faye said, her tone turning more serious. "I'm really glad you look up to my sister so much. It really makes everything she's been through worthwhile."

"Huh?" Startled by this change in conversation, Noelle remembered all the times she'd seen Professor Holly look out of sorts, and at times, downright depressed. "Is she all right?" she asked directly. "Not to pry or anything, but I worry about her."

Faye nodded in agreement. "She's just... lonely. She doesn't trust people very easily, so she moved up to the mountains all by herself after she graduated. It's not good for her to be cut off from society, but..." She paused, fingering the ends of her long hair. "Well, she's more comfortable that way. I don't condemn her because I understand how she feels."

The more Noelle looked at Faye, the more she noticed a resemblance between her and the professor -- same thick, brown hair, same sharp, green eyes. Duplica was looking at Faye and Noelle both, a concerned expression on her face. "I had no idea," Noelle said after a pause. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have run to her so suddenly to beg for advice. Now I feel horrible."

"No, don't think of it like that!" Faye said. "Believe me."

"Can I ask if something happened? Something to give her that attitude?"

Faye's glance to the side proved that there had indeed been a life-changing event for Professor Holly. "What?" Noelle pressed. "If I know a little bit about it, maybe I can understand her better and help her more! Please?"

"Her lover left her," Faye said quietly. "Nine years ago, just before she left for college."

"Oh," Noelle whispered, surprised the Faye complied. She glanced at Duplica, who listened silently.

"It was a choice between a career and a relationship," Faye said, choosing her words carefully. "And, well... Audrey didn't take it well. She almost didn't go to school, but I convinced her she had to, because otherwise she'd never move on... or move out of our parents' apartment." She smiled sadly. "Imagine being eight years old and trying to talk your big sister out of ruining her life. Ever since, I've always looked out for her."

No one said any more until Tracey emerged from Professor Oak's office. "I got the field guide," he announced, waving a small book. He lowered his arm as he noticed the awkward silence between the girls. "What's going on?"

Noelle shook her head and smiled forcefully. "Tracey, Faye here is Professor Holly's sister. She's just been telling us some things... that's all."

"Ah," the intuitive Tracey said.

"So." Duplica stood up, stretching. "Onto that library now?"

"What?" Tracey asked, giving her a perplexed look.

The teal-haired girl smirked. "I thought you were lying! Where did Professor Oak really tell you to go?"

"Nowhere! He was joking, anyway. Duplica!" he protested as she tugged on his arm. Noelle laughed, and noticed Faye was also giggling.

"Where are you and your sister from?" Noelle asked as they followed Faye to the lobby and she returned to her station.

"Goldenrod, in the Johto region," she answered.

"That's one of the biggest cities around," Tracey said. "Do you miss it, all the way out here in the sticks?"

"No way. My neighborhood was a lot like Vermilion's east side, y'know? I'm quite happy to be on this tiny, preserved, _clean_ campus." She clicked the computer's mouse and looked at her screen for a second. "So, an assistant to Professor Oak, huh? And are you two trainers?"

"Nope, just travelers looking for a good time," Duplica answered, latching onto Tracey's arm again.

"Oh, travelers? Where are you staying?"

"With a friend," said Noelle. "Though we'll be heading back to Professor Oak's lab in a couple of days."

"I really like what I've seen of the school," Tracey spoke up. "It must be quite a privilege to study here."

"And I think it must be a privilege to work for one of the world's leading pokémon experts." Faye grinned. "I've asked Audrey several times if she wouldn't like my help, but she says I should finish school, just like she did."

"I'm sure it is best to have a formal education before you make a name for yourself in the pokémon research world," Tracey mused.

"Hey, there's something to think about," Faye said. She looked around her desk. "And while you're thinking about it -- where is it? -- here. If you three are only going to be in town for a few more days, you should check this place out. It just opened last spring, but it saw a lot of business from students and teachers. It's very relaxing." She handed Tracey a pamphlet.

"Flareon Springs... hot springs resort?" Tracey read slowly, staring at it in disbelief.

It took much begging from Duplica to make Tracey concede to stopping at the springs, but not to admit it had been Professor Oak's suggestion from the other day. _Maybe it_ would _be relaxing,_ he thought. _Noelle and Duplica will be in the girls' springs, anyway. And it's the middle of the afternoon, the only other people there will be senior citizens._

Noelle's whisper from their day at the beach echoed in his mind. _"I think you're attractive."_ He couldn't stop thinking about it.

"This is so strange," Noelle remarked. She and Duplica were in the washroom, cleaning up before entering the spring for a long soak. Noelle held her unbound hair up with one hand while Duplica washed her back. Her other hand pressed a towel modestly to her front.

"Maybe to you, but it's traditional." Duplica wrung out the washcloth, finished with Noelle's back. "Okay, my turn."

Noelle sat on the stool behind her friend, dipping the cloth in warm, soapy water. At her silence, Duplica said, "Too bad Tracey doesn't have anyone to wash his back, huh?"

Noelle blushed. "Maybe he's just going to wait for us outside," she said. "He doesn't seem to like water... or, at least, being in it."

"He'd better get in the spring," Duplica said. "That boy needs to unwind a little."

"Yeah," Noelle said, concerned.

They wrapped their towels in place and headed outside. "Oh, wait," Noelle said. "I forgot to wrap my hair up."

Duplica, a towel enfolding her blue-green hair above her shoulders, looked at Noelle impatiently. "Spacing out already, huh? All right, I'll meet you there."

"I'll only be a second." Noelle hurried to the washroom, grabbing one of the white towels. Hair in place, she returned to the springs, looking around gratefully at the lack of customers. Despite that, she kept her towel around her body as she stepped into the warm, steamy water. She sat down until she was submerged to her neck, leaned her head against the rocky edge, and closed her eyes.

"Noelle?"

She lifted her head to find Tracey standing on the opposite edge. He had nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips, onto which he held tightly. Despite wide shoulders and sturdy legs, he had a trim waist, an absolute contrast to the baggy t-shirts he always wore. He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, staring at Noelle. She stared back, her mouth open slightly and her cheeks warm.

"Um." Tracey broke the long silence. "Did you get in the wrong spring?"

"Did I?" Noelle's face became redder. "I had no idea! I'm sorry, I'll get out right now!" She stood up as fast as she could, holding her heavily soaked towel, as it threatened to slip off. She teetered a little, losing her balance.

"Be careful!" Tracey called as she steadied herself on the rocks behind her. She sank back in the water shakily. "I'm okay," she said.

"Where's Duplica?"

"Probably in the right spring," Noelle said with a laugh. "Really, I just wasn't watching where I was going. But I guess as long as no one notices..."

"What, you're going to stay here?" Now Tracey's cheeks were visibly red.

"It's cold when I stand up." Noelle looked away awkwardly. "Um... but if you want me to leave..."

"No, stay... we shouldn't be here very long, anyway. Not if we want to be back in time for dinner."

Noelle smiled as he stepped in slowly, adjusting to the hot water. He stayed on the side opposite her, glancing at her from time to time.

"Hey," Noelle said in a soft voice. "Can I ask you something?"

"What's that?"

"Why are you so self-conscious? You really don't need to be."

Tracey pursed his lips together. "I'm used to it, I guess."

"I don't want you to miss out on having fun with us, that's all," said Noelle. "Or with our pokémon... you've been swimming with Marill before, haven't you?"

Tracey didn't answer, but looked away. "Why did you say that to me?" he asked. "On the beach yesterday."

"Oh," Noelle whispered, remembering her daring words. "Well, I--"

"Are you that shallow?" he interrupted, narrowing his eyes.

"What?" She was taken aback.

"I've been trying to figure out why it's been bothering me, and I think I know. Is that all you think of me now, after all the time we've spent together? You think telling me I'm attractive will make me feel better about things?"

"What things?" Noelle was at a loss now.

"I..." Tracey paused, flushing. "Okay, look. I don't know what kind of relationship we have. We always had fun conversations, and I think we were building a real bond. I don't want it to be ruined because you see me as no more than a sex object."

Noelle turned the darkest shade of red yet. "I didn't mean it that way!" she defended herself. "I was trying to make you feel better! It always seems like you're self-conscious, and it finally dawned on me that maybe you were jealous of Gary and James. I don't even like them anymore, so I--" She faltered, realizing what she was about to admit.

Tracey gave her a cold look. "Last choice, huh? I should have guessed I'd be brushed aside for the better one, as usual." He stood up, turning to climb out of the spring.

"Wait, Tracey!" Noelle sprung up and waded over to him as fast as she could, grabbing his wrist as he planted on foot the edge of the spring. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you, but I'm not about to take it back. I think you're cute, but that's not all! You're smart and nice, and you've put up with me all this time. I don't know what I'd do without you. Probably give up and go back to my parents." She chuckled bitterly. "How about that? I ran away to live my own life, but I can't do anything on my own. No wonder you don't want anything to do with me." She let go of his arm, staring at the water.

Tracey stepped back in, facing her, holding onto his wet, heavy towel. "If that was true, I wouldn't be so worried about how you see me," he said softly.

"Really?"

"I'm sorry I got so weird about it." He scratched his eyebrow, and looked around nervously. "I've never been in a situation like this... I didn't know how I'd react."

"Well, neither have I," said Noelle. "It took a lot of guts for me to say everything to you... something I wouldn't have cared to do for those other guys."

Tracey smiled, but the expression faded as he considered something. "Um... so what just happened?"

Noelle blushed anew. "I admitted I like you. A lot... you know..." She looked up from his bare chest to his brown eyes.

"Even after I freaked out?"

She nodded. Tracey reached for her hand and squeezed it, locking his fingers in between hers. "You don't know how happy that makes me," he whispered.

"I hope I can make you happy," she whispered back.

He lead her back to the spring's edge, where they sat down next to each other, the steamy water engulfing their shoulders and relieving their shivers. Noelle stared at the now-grinning Tracey and giggled. "I'm glad no one else came in here," she said.

"Did you really wander over to this side by mistake?" he asked suspiciously.

She gave him a guilty look. "How'd you know?"

"I'm an experienced watcher. Not just for pokémon, either."

"Not that experienced. You thought I didn't really like you."

He smirked. "Guess I'd better watch you more closely from now on." They both giggled, and their soak became a lot more relaxing.

"Did you fall in somewhere?" Duplica accused as Noelle found her in the changing room. "I even started looking for you, but then I figured I'd best enjoy the springs while I could."

"I could have been drowning!" Noelle said with a laugh.

"But the important thing is that you didn't! So, where were you?"

Noelle smiled, her cheeks coloring yet again.

"Come on, where?" Duplica bounded in place, eager for an answer.

"I made sure Tracey was enjoying his visit."

Duplica's squeal rang through the entire resort.

After Yama's delicious dinner, Tracey excused himself to call Professor Oak and report that his field guide had been retrieved. "That's excellent," the professor said. "And the other errand? Have you completed that?" He chuckled, greatly amused.

"As a matter of fact, I have," Tracey replied.

"Oh, really?" Oak's furry eyebrows raised. "What do you think?"

"It's a very lovely place," said his assistant with a genuine smile. "They're right about hot springs having healing properties."

"Is that so?"

Tracey glanced away, a little embarrassed. Professor Oak laughed heartily. "So you and your friends will be heading back to the lab soon?"

"Yes, starting tomorrow. We won't be long now."

"Excellent. I look forward to meeting them."

Tracey went to his room afterwards, pulling the sketchbook from Noelle out of his backpack. He began to draw her face from memory, the first image for the book's first page. He smiled at his sketch, reflecting back to that afternoon, thinking of things he could have said.

_I would have to make a whining idiot of myself,_ he thought. _Anyone else would take it as a compliment... and I don't even live up to my words. The first thing I noticed was that she was beautiful._

It was definitely unlike him to base an affection on physical attraction. He'd liked only a few girls in the past, and they'd all had outstanding personalities: strong, brave, independent. He always imagined that a girl like that would take care of him. Yet, in Noelle he sensed a fragile vulnerability behind her cheerful confidence, and it awakened a need to be the protector rather than the protected.

_How conventional,_ he thought, adding darker lines to his sketch. And he had always prided himself on avoiding such stereotypes.

"Oh, well," he said to his drawing. "You never know. Maybe I was just trying too hard, right?"

The sketch of Noelle smiled happily. Tracey hugged it to his chest, and thought about how things were going to change. 


	11. Gary and Tracey! Team Rocket's True Vill...

**Gary and Tracey! Team Rocket's True Villainy!**

Midori smiled knowingly at Noelle throughout breakfast. Every time she noticed him doing it, she would giggle and blush, which made Tracey giggle and blush, which made Duplica nearly choke on her food holding back a snickering fit. All of this puzzled Yama, but he kept himself busy rushing back and forth to the kitchen to flip the pancakes. It was the most amusing breakfast his gym had ever seen.

All the pokémon ate from bowls circled around the table, but a certain Eevee went so far as to jump in Noelle's lap. "Can she eat pancakes?" Noelle asked as Yama re-entered the dining room with a fresh batch of the cakes on a plate.

"Sure," he replied. Noelle tore off a piece and fed it to Eevee. She swished her fluffy tail and sniffed the girl's fingers, looking for more.

"She's so cute. I hate to say goodbye," Noelle remarked, handing Eevee another bite. She scratched behind the pokémon's long ears.

"You don't _have_ to," Yama said. "I think she'd like to go with you very much."

Wide-eyed, Noelle looked from him to Midori to Eevee again. "Really?"

"I try to find as many good homes for all my pokémon as I can," Yama continued. "Remember?"

"Oh, thank you!" Noelle hugged Eevee, who squirmed when she got an eyeful of Noelle's plate.

Tracey, Duplica, and Noelle packed up and were on their way after breakfast, thanking Yama profusely for his hospitality and wonderous meals. He modestly thanked them back for their praise.

"I'll see you all again, I'm sure," Midori said.

Noelle hugged him. "I hope things get better for you," she whispered.

"Thanks. I hope things go best for you." He grinned, making her giggle and blush once again.

"See you later, Midori," Tracey said, waving and looking amused as Noelle came to stand by his side again.

Duplica fidgeted. "Midori!" she exclaimed, tackling him in a fierce hug. "I'll miss you!"

"I'll miss you too, milady." He hugged her back and gave her a kiss on her cheek. Looking completely stunned, she rejoined Noelle and Tracey. They waved at one another until the three younger travelers were out of sight.

Duplica sighed airily and touched her cheek. "I hope we see him again soon."

"Well, you don't _have_ to come to Pallet Town," Tracey said with a grin.

"Hey, you're right!" Duplica giggled. "But someone's got to keep an eye on you two."

Noelle blushed again. In her arms, Snowflake giggled, and the Eevee at her feet responded cheerfully.

They hadn't walked far when Tracey lifted his head up, listening. "Someone's coming," he said.

Duplica held a hand to her ear. "I think it's a cute someone."

"How do you know that?" Noelle asked.

"I have a sixth sense about these things. Trust me."

"Reminds me of someone I knew," said Tracey.

The solitary traveler approached, his cape swishing around his sides, a small brown pokémon trotting along by his feet. Noelle's Eevee perked up, her ears twitching. Then she bolted ahead. "Hey!" Noelle called.

The newcomer stopped, and could plainly be seen: Gary Oak. Noelle's Eevee and his sniffed noses. "I was right," Duplica mumbled with a smile. "Hi, Gary!" she called out, waving.

"Tracey," Noelle whispered, looking up at him, concerned.

"It's all right," he whispered back.

"Well," Gary said as he approached with the two Eevee in tow. "Nice to see you all again." If he was being sincere or sarcastic, his tone did nothing to give it away. "Whose Eevee?"

"Mine," Noelle spoke up. "I just got her... from a friend."

Gary nodded. His eyes flickered to Tracey. "So, Noelle... what do you say to a battle?"

"Battle me?" she asked.

"Our last one was interrupted, you know. I hate to leave a battle unfinished."

Noelle looked from Duplica, who shrugged, to Tracey, who turned his head. Then she faced Gary again. "We all know you're a lot stronger than I am," she told him. "And we're kind of anxious to get to Pallet Town, so no thanks."

"It's not polite to refuse a battle," Gary said with a smile. A genuine smile? Noelle stared into his eyes, trying to determine his motives.

"It's not polite to patronize someone, either," Tracey spoke up in a cold voice. "Come on, Noelle."

"_I'll_ battle you, Gary-boy," Duplica said, flipping a pigtail over her shoulder. "Only the stakes are a little more... personal." She grinned dangerously.

Gary chuckled, amused. "Maybe after Noelle."

Noelle drew a thoughtful breath, then exhaled slowly. "All right."

Duplica let out a little squeak.

"Thank you," Gary said unexpectedly. "Same as before, then?" He plucked a pokéball from his belt.

"I don't think so," said Noelle. She handed Snowflake to Tracey and reached into her backpack. She sent out Lapras.

Gary appeared stunned, but kept his composure. "Is that so?" He replaced the first ball and flung another out. An Arcanine appeared, growling low.

"Don't hold back, Lapras!" Noelle ordered, her heart racing. "Ice beam!"

The shining beam struck Arcanine, but what little ice materialized was shaken away, melted into sprinkles of water. Gary smiled. "Use ember," he said. Lapras squealed, flopping her fins, unable to dodge the small but threatening flames. "Lapras!" Noelle cried.

_Ice is a poor choice against fire,_ Lapras's still-calm voice said in Noelle's mind.

_I'm so sorry!_ she sent back, starting to panic.

_But it's a fleeting strength,_ Lapras continued. _Fire melts ice into water, which douses fire..._

"Noelle's battling is different," Duplica commented from the sidelines. "Don't you think so?"

"Maybe," Tracey said distantly. Snowflake looked up at him.

"You and Gary have a history, don't you?"

He was taken aback by her blatant question.

"All right, Arcanine! Flamethrower!" Gary called.

"Ice beam it, now!" Noelle shouted, pointing for emphasis. Lapras's beam met the fire blast head-on: with a sizzle and rising steam, the flames were doused with the melted ice. Arcanine paused its attack, perplexed.

"Huh," Gary said, bemused. "Guess we need a closer range. Headbutt!"

"Water gun!" Just like that, the battle was over, a drenched Arcanine collapsed on the ground.

Gary recalled it with a small smile. "I'm impressed," he admitted. "Not too many people can catch a Lapras, let alone handle it so easily. And I just saw you... what, two weeks ago?"

"Surprise," Noelle said. "You never know what's going to happen."

Gary approached her and handed her a few bills. "And here I'm close to challenging the Johto League Champion. Look at you, a novice with a one-sided team. This is usually the kind of situation you find in fantasy stories."

Noelle, surprisingly level-headed, smiled at him. Midori was counting on her, as well as Tracey, Professor Holly, and her pokémon -- everyone was expecting her to do her best.

"Here." Gary took hold of her hand and pressed something into the palm, curling her fingers over it. "Take this, too. As an apology."

Noelle raised an eyebrow. "What? What are you apologizing for?"

"Because I've been doing a lot of thinking. You wouldn't know it, but... there are a lot of things I regret."

Noelle was even more confused. She finally looked at the gift in her hand: a crystal-like rock, with jagged edges and a translucent, dark blue hue. She turned it over, examining it.

"It's a water stone," Gary supplied. "I think you can make better use of it than I can."

"Oh... thank you," Noelle said, still very confused by everything.

"You're welcome." Gary turned to the spectators. "Tracey," he called.

The watcher didn't respond. Ignoring the stares from Duplica and Noelle, Gary walked over to him. "Did you hear me tell her I've been thinking?" he asked.

Tracey refused to meet his eyes. "Good for you," he mumbled.

"Ah..." Duplica spoke up. "Hey, Noelle, what are you holding? Show us!" She snatched Snowflake from Tracey's arms and ran to her friend, leaving the boys to themselves.

Gary smiled. "She's not as bad as she acts. You've got some very nice friends."

At Tracey's silence, he tried again. "The time I spent in Johto, I did a lot of self-evaluation." His voice was quiet. "I think I'm more sure of things now. I tried to tell you in Saffron, but you weren't about to listen to me."

"What? You have a change of heart, just like that?" Tracey finally said.

"It was just such a _shock_ last year. I wasn't prepared for it. Now that I've thought about it..."

"You're too late. I have a girlfriend."

This time Gary could not disguise his reaction. That's when Tracey was able to look at him directly for the first time in ages.

"You mean Noelle?" Gary asked.

Tracey nodded. He hadn't spoken the word _girlfriend_ aloud yet. Now that he'd said it, it seemed to solidify things. She loved him back. He was with her.

"That's great, though," Gary went on. "I'm glad you're... I mean, I hope you're happy."

"I am. I really am."

Noelle called Lapras back to her ball, placing it securely in her backpack again. "What's going on?" she whispered to Duplica, who was studying the water stone.

"They look like they're talking about something really serious," Duplica answered. "Whatever happened between them, probably."

"Tracey never told me what it was."

Gary started in their direction, calling for his Eevee to come along. "See you sometime," he said to the girls.

"Wait!" Duplica trotted off after him. "You owe me a battle now, right? Come on, Noelle got a present! I want one, too!"

Noelle picked up Snowflake and joined Tracey. "What did he have to say?" she asked.

Tracey stared off in the distance, visibly shaken, brown eyes wet with forming tears.

"Tracey?" Noelle set Snowflake on the ground and hugged him. He squeezed her back tightly, holding on for a long time.

Jessie wouldn't let go of the pokéball, nor would she stop smiling. It was a giddy smile, full of anticipation, impatience, and ideas. It bordered on deranged. "Just wait 'til the Boss sees this," she said, polishing the ball for the fifth time.

James, driving the truck they'd found, glanced at her occasionally with a worried look. "I don't know, Jess," he said. "This seems... not right. Too easy."

"What? Are you insane?" Jessie snapped. "The best part is that we caught it legitimately! No one's going to hound us and demand we give back their pokémon!"

"Maybe dat's why James is so freaked out," Meowth commented from between the two of them.

"It was fate." Jessie sighed. "If our sub hadn't washed up so close to the Safari Zone, we never would have found _you._" She nuzzled the ball, then wiped the spot. "I can't wait to get that promotion... and the reward money..."

Meowth crawled onto Jessie's lap to gaze out the window at the pedestrians, mostly young kids walking down the country road. "Hey, look!" he exclaimed. "Dat's da girl with dat one rare pokémon we almost caught last time! Wanna try again?"

"Don't be too greedy, Meowth," James said. "We've already--hey!" He squealed as Jessie grabbed the steering wheel, jerking it towards her.

"Turn around!" she barked. "Yes, we _will_ be taking that annoying girl's pokémon. It cannot be that hard."

"Dat red-haired guy wasn't dere," Meowth supplied. "We can just drive by and snatch it. Ha! Drive-by poké-nabbing. Maybe we can get fries with dat, too." He laughed for a long time.

"Jessie!" James cried as the truck veered off the road.

"What do you think you're doing? Get this thing under control!"

"You're the one who made me lose it!" In a panic, James slammed on the brake. Meowth, who had unfastened his seatbelt to move to the window, tumbled backwards, rolling into James's side.

The blue-pigtailed girl and her friends happened to be right in front of the scene. Jessie, holding her head with her free hand, noticed them staring. "Aha!" she said, jumping out of the truck. "We meet again! Hand over your little pokémon!"

The other girl with teal hair rested her hands on her hips. "What, no cheesy disguises?" she asked with a smirk.

"Team Rocket takes what it wants!" Jessie declared, holding up her prize pokéball. "James, get out here and distract her with a rose or two!"

"That's really not going to work anymore," said the blue-haired girl. "Sorry, but we'll be on our way. Come on, Tracey, Duplica." The three of them started off.

"Hey!" Jessie shouted. "James! Meowth! Do something!"

"Get back in, Jess," James said. "We're lucky this thing is still running."

"I'm lucky my head is still runnin'," Meowth grumbled, buckled securely next to the driver.

"I don't believe you two. Lickitung!" Jessie whipped out its pokéball. "Stop that girl!"

"Jessie!" James leapt from the truck. "What's gotten into you? Leave her alone!"

She fixed a dark look on her partner. "Why do you care? Or... is that it? Ever since we came across her, you've been acting strange. Saying things that don't make sense."

"It doesn't make sense to attack those kids when we've got our promotion right here!" James lay a hand on the new pokéball, which Jessie yanked out from underneath.

"This isn't about the promotion anymore," Jessie mumbled. "I just don't like her."

The trio gasped as Lickitung charged, its huge tounge lashing out, ready to grab Snowflake. But before it could touch the little thing, an Eevee slammed into it as hard as it could. Lickitung tumbled over, its path diverted.

"Get up, Lickitung!" Jessie called. "Wrap that little fluffball!"

"Eevee, quick attack!"

The Eevee knocked Lickitung to the ground again before it could strike. Jessie growled under her breath. James reached out a hand to touch her shoulder, to distract her, but she snapped, began running up to the kids. "You!" she yelled. "Always interfering! How can you always get your way!" She lunged at Snowflake, at its trainer.

"Noelle!" her friends cried. Noelle tried to hold Snowflake away, but she was much shorter than Jessie, so she wove the pokémon this way and that, dodging the Rocket's arms. After so much zigzagging, Noelle's elbow bumped Jessie's hand -- the one holding the prize pokéball. Both of them froze, watching it fall to the ground, right on its release button.

The brilliant red light took a long shape, towering above them all: a snakelike pokémon of dark blue, with a white underbelly and small white wings on either side of its head. It fixed the humans with a menacing stare.

"A... Dragonair," whispered the green-haired boy, the only sound anyone made after a moment's silence.

"No," Jessie said. "It can't... escape..."

"Call it back to its ball!" James called from behind her. "Then let's go!"

Jessie stared up at the Dragonair, who fixed its shining eyes back on her seriously. Then it rose higher, flying away.

"Wait!" Jessie threw the discarded pokéball at it. "You can't leave! I'm your master, get back here!"

It wasn't listening, letting out a cry of warning. "Why didn't it work?" James asked.

Meowth leaned on his elbows against the rolled-down window of the truck. "Da Dragonair says no ordinary human can catch him. Jessie may have found him sleepin', but she was just lucky. He wasn't about ta stay in dat ball for very long."

Jessie trembled as the Dragonair flew out of sight. Everything that happened next was a frantic blur. She flung out her other pokéball and ordered Arbok to attack Noelle directly with a poison sting. Distracted by the escaping legendary pokémon, none of the kids realized what was happening until the poisonous needles were lodged in Noelle's arm. With a look of pain and horror, she brought her hand up to remove the stingers, but collapsed as the poison quickly coursed through her blood.

Arbok hissed at her protesting friends as it wrapped its tail around Noelle's body. It slithered over to a very pleased Jessie. Noelle was still holding a crying Snowflake, who could not escape from both her trainer's arms and Arbok's grip.

Jessie said to James in a low voice, "Take her. Now." Knowing better than to argue, he picked up the girl and the pokémon to carry them to the truck. Jessie recalled Arbok and Lickitung, then climbed into the driver's seat without another word. As soon as James closed his door, she stomped on the gas and drove off.

Tracey could not speak. All he knew was that he was helpless, he had stood there and let them take her, he was standing while they were driving away...

Duplica, with a much clearer head, sent out her Ditto. "Transform into a Pidgeot so we can follow that truck!" she ordered. She climbed on the newly-changed pokémon's back.

"We can't both ride on that!" Tracey blurted out, finally giving voice to his panic.

"It's the best way!" Duplica snapped back, also panicked. "I'm sure Ditto can support the two of us!"

"Not without being slowed down too much. You go. Hurry, before they get too far!"

Obviously torn, Duplica conceded to following Team Rocket. Shaking, Tracey watched her go. It was always someone else. Someone else fought the bad guys, went with friends to Johto, rode in the sky with a flying pokémon. Someone else would save his girlfriend.

"Vuii?" Noelle's Eevee asked softly. Tracey sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands, crying for the second time that day.

Eevee made more noise -- Tracey could tell she wanted his attention. He wiped his eyes and lifted his head, but the huge shadow on the ground in front of him pulled his attention away from the little pokémon. Jessie's Dragonair had come back. 


	12. MuchNeeded Rest! An Unforseen Change of ...

Yay! It's the end! --;  
Be sure to read the author's note at the bottom. Sorry about this mess.  
P-Z

**Much-Needed Rest! An Unforseen Change of Heart!**

Duplica watched from above as Team Rocket parked their truck in a Saffron City alley. Jessie exited the driver's seat, instructed James and Meowth to stay put, and disappeared into the bustling crowd. "Good," Duplica said to herself. "She's the dangerous one." Ditto-Pidgeot descended, reverting to its normal form as soon as they landed and Duplica had jumped off its back.

She approached the truck quietly and tapped on the driver's side window. "Guess who?" she announced. James's eyes grew wide with shock, and he reached for the door handle on his side -- only to find Ditto transforming into a Snorlax, standing on its hind legs and throwing its bulk against the entire passenger side. Its expert trainer grinned.

"Duplica!" someone called. To her utmost surprise, a Dragonair hovered above the buildings that formed the alley.

_"Tracey?"_ she asked in disbelief.

The Dragonair came closer, until Tracey could safely slide off its back. He recalled it to the green-and-white safariball Jessie had dropped before. "It stayed," Tracey said. "When it saw that I couldn't go with you, it came back down to me... I think it knows what's going on."

"Vuii!" chimed in Noelle's Eevee, jumping down from the boy's shoulders.

"You're just in time," Duplica said. "I've got these two right where I want them." She fixed another pleased smile at the trapped James and Meowth.

"Noelle!" Tracey cried, banging his fists on the window. "We have to get her to a hospital! She's poisoned!"

"I know that!" James shouted back. He was still holding her. "Let me out, and we can! All of us!"

"Huh?" Tracey and Duplica looked at one another.

"Jessie went and snapped," Meowth said, standing in front of the driver's side window. "Just give us dat Dragonair, and we'll give yer friend back. Isn't dat what ya want?"

Tracey reached for the safariball in his pocket. Dragonair would escape their clutches eventually. The important thing was to make sure Noelle was safe.

She stirred in James's arms. "Noelle!" Tracey called out again, ignoring the exchange and pressing his hands against the window again.

She opened her eyes and raised her head, looking straight at him. "Tracey?" she murmured. "What's going--" She shrieked as she inspected her surroundings, saw that James was holding her. With unexplained ease, she squirmed from his grasp and burst from the driver's side, flinging her arms around Tracey.

"Dat was easy," Meowth remarked. "Now hand over da Dragonair!"

"Noelle!" Duplica gasped. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine now," she answered, voice muffled by her face buried in Tracey's shirt.

"It's a miracle you can stand," Tracey said. "But we have to take you to a hospital as soon as possible."

"What?" She lifted her head to look up at him. "Why?"

He stared back at her in disbelief. "You're poisoned. Jessie had her Arbok poison sting you."

"But... I feel fine."

"Churu?" Snowflake crawled to the open door. Noelle broke away from Tracey to pick her up, squeezing her tightly.

Duplica shot a look at James. "I didn't do anything!" he exclaimed, a defensive protest out of habit.

"You didn't give her any antidote? How could you?" Duplica demanded.

"We don't have any! I don't know what's going on!"

"So where did Jessie go?"

"We don't know dat, either," Meowth answered. "She just said ta wait here. I tink she has a plan."

"That's right, I do."

Jessie had returned, looking very pleased with herself. Tracey wrapped his arms protectively around Noelle and Snowflake. "You can't think you'll be able to take Snowflake to your boss now," he said.

"I had a change of heart about that," Jessie responded, unfurling a paper and holding it out. It was a notice of Noelle's missing status, obviously made and distributed by her parents. "I saw this not too long ago," Jessie went on. "I was going to ignore it -- what do I care if some brat ran away from Mommy and Daddy?" She glanced at James. "But it wasn't until earlier today that I realized the reward for your return would probably clear our debt with the Boss."

"Re... reward?" Noelle repeated softly.

"Well, you can't take her to her parents now!" Duplica scoffed. "I've got a Snorlax and I'm not afraid to use it!"

"I don't have to take her anywhere. I just called them. They're on their way here." She furrowed her eyebrows. "I thought you were poisoned. What gives?"

"I was... asleep," Noelle said, nestled in Tracey's arms. "I think." She gripped his shirt, trying to remember.

"Jessie." James slid out from the truck on the driver's side, with Ditto-Snorlax still guarding the passenger's. "That was a horrible thing to do."

"To alert some rich couple about their missing daughter? For a _reward_, even? I don't think so."

"You know what I mean. Pokémon poison is deadly unless treated right away. You could have killed her."

"Well, she's obviously alive now!" Jessie snapped. "What difference does it make?"

James gave her a hard stare.

"Are you just going to let your parents take you back?" Duplica asked Noelle. "Maybe we can get away before they get here."

"No," Noelle said. "I'm going to see them."

"What? Are you sure?"

"They sent out flyers everywhere. I thought they didn't care, but... maybe..." She smiled, uncertain if she should. "Tracey, you can meet my parents."

Soon a deafening noise thundered from above: a helicopter. They were fast. A rope ladder dropped from it, and Noelle's father himself began to climb down. "_There_ you are, young lady," he shouted, his voice still blanketed by the ruckus.

"Hi, Dad," Noelle said, but didn't raise her voice too much. She looked up at the helicopter. "Mom?"

Contessa Winter was slowly and awkwardly descending. Once she was on the ground, the pilot landed the helicopter on the roof of one of the tall buildings, and it became quiet again. Out in the street, vehicles slowed down to get a look, and passersby blatantly stopped and stared. Contessa looked around disdainfully.

"At last, someone's found you," her husband announced. "Now maybe things can get back to normal."

"That would be me." Jessie waved for his attention, beaming. "I made the phone call."

"Ah, yes." Clayton Winter handed her a check, which had been filled out beforehand. Jessie snatched it, staring at it with sparkling eyes and a wide smile.

"So, what was it?" Clayton asked Noelle. "Kidnappers? I would have thought they'd have sent a ransom notice by now."

"I wasn't kidnapped," Noelle said. "At least... not at first." She glared at Jessie. "I ran away... to be a pokémon trainer."

"Pokémon! Not those dirty little things again," Contessa sniffed, then fanned the air.

"Well, I'm sure it's been fun for you all summer," Clayton said, brushing the matter aside. "But you've still got to come home. You can't imagine the scandal that was created when we couldn't go to your engagement party. Naturally, it's off now. Maybe there will be another opportunity..."

"I'm not coming back," Noelle said flatly.

"Don't be difficult," her father said, his voice brimming with annoyed impatience. "As long as you're our child, you'll respect our decisions. You're getting rid of your pets and coming back home."

"How about respecting _her_ decisions?" Tracey spoke up. "You can't tell her to marry someone she doesn't even know. You can't treat her like she doesn't have a mind of her own!"

Mr. Winter gave him a scrutinizing look. "Just who are you, anyway?"

"This is Tracey," Noelle answered in his place. "He's my boyfriend. You can't separate me from him." She took in a breath and lifted her head defiantly. "I won't let you."

"And you can't talk back to your parents like that." Clayton stepped forward and grasped her arm. "After all we've given you..."

He was stopped as James placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let her go," he said, his voice calm. "You're fighting a losing battle. It's best to let her have what she wants."

"What is with you kids talking back to me?" Mr. Winter spun around angrily, facing James.

"My parents came to terms with it years ago," he said. "Surely you can, too, sir?"

Clayton studied him for several moments. "James? James Morgan?"

"You know him?" Jessie blurted out, looking up from her check for the first time.

"I'd almost forgotten," said James. "I was very young."

"I can't believe it," Contessa chimed in, drifting in and out of her surroundings, as usual. "I never expected to see little James again."

"What is this?" Clayton looked pointedly at James's white Team Rocket uniform. "Are you in some kind of militia? Do your parents know what you've done with yourself?"

"More or less. All things change, sir. Even traditions. Let Noelle be a pokémon trainer. If you're kind to her now, she'll show her gratitude in the future."

Clayton furrowed his dark brow. He cast one final look at his daughter. "Fine," he said simply.

"Really?" Noelle blurted out. "You're okay with it? You know, I'm going with Tracey to meet Professor Oak -- he's a world-famous pokémon expert! And he wants to study my..." She trailed off when she noticed her father wasn't listening, just pulling his phone from his jacket and paging the helicopter pilot.

"Guess we'll try again," he said bitterly, looking solely at James. "Ungrateful children. I don't know what any of us are doing wrong."

The helicopter descended, drowning out any further conversation. Mr. Winter grabbed the ladder and climbed up without a farewell. "Mom?" Noelle shouted, confused.

Contessa gave her a diplomatic smile. "Take care of yourself," she said, but Noelle only saw her lips move. Then she followed her husband, and the aircraft lifted, flying away slowly.

Pedestrians were still staring, though traffic had begun to move at its normal pace again, encouraged by blaring horns. "What just happened?" Noelle whispered, shocked.

Tracey squeezed her shoulders, and Duplica gave her a sympathetic look. Their parents had given up on them as well.

"What just happened is that our problems are solved!" Jessie declared. "Come on, you two, it's time to show the Boss what we earned!" She kissed the check she was still clutching.

James stood rooted to the same spot, staring at the ground in deep contemplation. "Didn't you hear me?" Jessie asked him. "Let's go."

"Apologize to Noelle," James said quietly. "After everything you put her through, she deserves that, at least."

"What everything? She's alive, and she gets to stay with her little friends."

James snapped his head up, his face livid. "Do it!" Jessie gasped, and stepped back, though she was already several feet from him. They stared at one another for a long time.

"Um." Meowth broke the silence. "Well, somebody do something. I don't like dese awkward moments."

Jessie cocked her head upwards and sniffed, opening one eye to James. "Not until you explain how you know her parents. Have you two met before? And you've been keeping it from me? Is that why you act so strange around her?"

"Yes, we have," James answered. "Though I didn't realize it until I saw her parents. It was a very long time ago. She was probably too young to remember me." He cast a regretful glance at Noelle. "There. Now apologize to her."

Jessie stubbornly refused. "I don't care for this attitude of yours, James. We're wasting time. Now come on."

"You go. After our debt is repayed, I won't owe Team Rocket anything."

Shock replaced the annoyance on Jessie's face, but only for a second. "Fine, be that way," she said, stomping over to the truck. "Let's go, Meowth."

"But Jess--"

_"Now!"_

Meowth yelped and dived into the vehicle. Jessie slammed the door beside her, revved the motor quite more than was necessary, and sped around the alley's corner, tires squealing. James took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then exhaled slowly. Then he approached Noelle.

"I'm sorry," he said in Jessie's place. "For everything."

Noelle was trembling by this point, shaking her head in confusion. "You won't stay in Team Rocket?" she asked, one of a hundred questions she had.

James smiled sadly. "All things change," he mused.

"What's going to happen to you?"

He stared up at the sky, which was mostly obscured by a huge brick building. "I think I'll try to make amends with my parents. Maybe they'll protect me." He peeled off his black gloves and held out a hand to Noelle. "Forgive them. People like your parents and mine, they only want what's best for themselves."

"I... suppose..."

"You're just lucky you have real friends."

Noelle shook his hand, squeezing it. "Good luck. I hope things work out."

He smiled at her, nodded at Tracey and Duplica. Then he pulled his white Rocket shirt over his head, flinging it into the dumpster behind them. In his sleeveless black undershirt and white uniform pants, he went on his way, walking freely in the open, like he'd always wanted.

"Wow," Duplica whispered after several silent minutes. She picked up the reformed Ditto, who had slithered over to her feet.

"Are you all right?" Tracey asked Noelle.

She sighed nervously. "Yeah. I think so. Let's go to the pokémon center. I think I need to be alone."

Noelle sat on a the bottom bunk of the bed inside a closed room at the Saffron center. Snowflake and Eevee were beside her, resting from all the excitement. Noelle was holding Seel's pokéball, staring at it. Remembering. She'd been asleep in the truck on the way to the city, and, in her dream, she was talking to Seel, who was in the form of a young boy. He was holding her, telling her to be strong. He was giving her his energy.

_"Part of the bond with your type of pokémon enables you to use the same powers as they."_ That's what Midori had told her. Noelle researched a little on the pokécenter's lobby computer, after Tracey and Duplica had left her by herself. Rest, a power of Seel's. He had given her the ability to heal herself from the poison. There was no other explanation.

"So it's true," Noelle said aloud. "I'm just like Midori. And whoever else is out there." But Midori had caused some great destruction channeling his Sneasel's dark attacks. Was it dangerous to wield a pokémon's powers? What if she attacked Tracey, made him leave, the same way Midori had driven away his old friend?

The idea brought tears to her eyes, and she rested her forehead on her hands, which were still holding onto Seel's pokéball. She couldn't risk losing Tracey, or Duplica, or any of her friends. She had no home to return to now.

_I really can't do anything on my own,_ she thought, feeling bitterness grow. _I failed to prove my independence._

_But it's not weak to have friends,_ she countered herself. _I_ was _mostly independent growing up. Now I have people -- and pokémon -- who care about me and like me for myself._

She reflected on this for a little while. With a smile, she kissed Seel's pokéball and whispered her thanks. She stuck the ball safely in her backpack and slid it around her shoulders. Then she picked up Snowflake. Eevee, watching her stand, swished her fluffy tail. "Let's go, you two," Noelle said.

She was intending to go to the cafeteria, where Tracey and Duplica would be waiting for her. Instead, she found Tracey standing in the hall just outside the room. "Hi," she greeted him warmly.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Everthing will be fine."

Tracey smiled, a mix of relief and lingering concern. He tousled Snowflake's straw-colored hair, and she giggled.

They all had some lunch at the cafeteria, leaving the center afterwards. "Think we can get to Pallet without any interruptions this time?" Duplica asked, teasing.

"Maybe if Ditto could transform into something large enough to fly us," Tracey replied, grinning.

"Hey! What about Dragonair? It's huge!"

"Jessie's Dragonair?" Noelle wondered aloud. "What, you caught it again?"

Tracey pulled the safariball out of his pocket, where it had been since he'd landed in Saffron. He and Duplica told Noelle the story of their separate flights as they walked through the city, on their way to Pallet Town at last.

**Author's Note:**  
Well, that was full of plotholes.

But I don't like to leave things unfinished if I can help it. I love my characters, and I want to tell their story, but this version wasn't working for what I have in mind.

Noelle was my first original character, and I always thought I'd keep things from her point of view as she goes on her personal journey. However, as EW grew in scope, I decided it's necessary to bring the other characters, many of whom aren't even in this story, forward more, to focus less on Noelle's travels through Kanto. In doing the latter, I was losing perspective on who and what EW is really about.

For all intents and purposes, EW is over. If you liked it and want to know more, or you didn't like it and want to see better, I hope you'll look forward to **Eternal Winter: White Reflection**, the rewrite in development.

Thanks for reading,  
Pika-Zukin  
10/21/04 


End file.
